Students must tread carefully

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is luckier than most because, as he said himself, he was able to afford to educate one of his daughters in a private college.

Too many people simply cannot afford to do likewise, which is precisely why Minister for Education Noel Dempsey is completely wrong in considering the re-introduction of third-level fees.

The notion, as suggested by Mr Ahern, that they might only be introduced for people on high incomes is flawed on two grounds.

First, the amount of revenue which would be collected on that basis would hardly warrant a layer of administration to police it, and would make little, if any, impression on having third-level education more widely available to those who cannot afford it.

Second, which is the kernel of the issue, such a measure would be seen essentially as the foot-in-the-door for the inevitable return of fees for all third-level students, irrespective of the family’s income.

Given the Government’s cavalier attitude in imposing stealth taxes, and the gaping credibility deficit they are experiencing as a result, it would be folly to imagine that the same will not happen in third-level education.

Patently, Mr Dempsey is running completely against the grain of popular opinion in floating the proposition that the fees should be brought back under any guise.

Students and their parents are also being put under unnecessary pressure with the emergence of this perplexing issue as a solo run by Mr Dempsey. Already, students have expressed their total opposition to such an eventuality by a series of protests.

Their anger and frustration is understandable and while they are entitled to continue those protests, they must do so within the law. Otherwise, they would do irreparable damage to the justice of their case.

Therefore, it is a matter of concern that the president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Colm Jordan should consider it necessary to write to the Garda Commissioner warning him of the possibility of serious disruptions in protest against any proposed introduction of third-level fees.

The students have the weight of public opinion behind them on the issue at the moment and that is a valuable weapon in convincing the Government to drop the idea entirely.

It would be self-defeating to embark on a course of militant action which goes beyond the bounds of acceptable protest.

Probably as a result of the isolation he faces, and especially the opposition from their PD coalition partners, Mr Dempsey is now reported to have invited the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to carry out a review of third-level education.

While he may describe it as a review, the move is invariably seen as a tactic to delay any decision on third-level fees. Most people will hope it is the first move in removing it from the agenda altogether.

Mr Ahern said yesterday that the debate is not about the fees but about greater access for all to further education. He is right about the latter, but very definitely wrong to aver that the fees are not an issue, because they very definitely are.