THIRD-LEVEL ISSUE:MINISTER FOR Education Batt O'Keeffe yesterday rejected criticism by the Labour Party that any plan to reintroduce third-level fees for the very wealthy would be anti-democratic and anti-republican.
Mr O'Keeffe said it seemed to him that the Labour Party appeared to have "an ideological hang-up" about the issue of third-level fees because it was the party that abolished them in 1995, but Ireland today was a very changed country from what it was then.
President of the Labour Party Michael D Higgins had told a rally of students opposed to any reintroduction of third-level fees that it was "anti-democratic and anti-republican" to suggest access to third-level should be restricted to those who can afford to pay for it.
But Mr O'Keeffe said what he was proposing when mooting the idea that the very wealthy who could afford to pay fees should do so, was something he believed was in keeping with Labour's views on achieving greater equality.
"Michael D and the Labour Party seem to have an ideological hang-up [because] they withdrew fees, but I think Michael D and the Labour Party should look at the Ireland that existed then and the Ireland that exists now.
"The basic Labour philosophy, what used to be a socialist philosophy, would see that this Ireland is an Ireland where we have many high earners and I'd have thought my suggestion that those very high earners should contribute would be absolutely in line with Labour policy."
Mr O'Keeffe said Mr Higgins's comments that it was "bogus" to suggest that Irish universities were unable to compete with British and US ones due to funding shortfalls seemed to imply that Mr Higgins, too, recognised the need for an audit of spending in the sector.
"Michael D realises perhaps that some audit is needed because he's questioning what some presidents of the universities in particular are saying, and his view doesn't tally with theirs and all I'm trying to do is establish the facts."
Speaking at his former place of employment, Cork Institute of Technology, where he launched its Continuing Education prospectus, Mr O'Keeffe said he was confident everyone working with the sector would accept the need to carry out a review.
"I don't want to be involved in a witch-hunt, but everybody in the third-level sector will understand that if we are spending €2 billion, I want to ensure that before we invest any further and meet the calls of the sector . . . I would examine how the money is being spent."
Mr O'Keeffe said the review may find that the sector is performing effectively and practically, but if it finds there is room for improvements and makes recommendations towards that end, he hoped that any change could be achieved through partnership.