Minister accused of cheating students to win votes

PRE-ELECTION pledges by the Labour Party about reversing student registration charges and not reintroducing formal fees amounted to “cheating students to win votes”, the Dáil was told.

During heated exchanges and persistent heckling in the chamber Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said the Government had yet to finally determine “what may or may not be in the budget”.

Later during question time Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn, who in February pledged to reverse the registration hike and not to introduce fees, said he was examining the Higher Education Authority report on funding for higher education. He would discuss it with Government colleagues “as part of our budgetary deliberations”.

Fianna Fáil education spokesman Brendan Smith said the Minister knew “full well the fiscal position of the State” when he made the pledge in February.

But rounding on the Cavan-Monaghan TD, Mr Quinn stressed that because of the former government’s pledges “we don’t control either our cheque book or our policy in relation to a whole range of items of public expenditure and we have to work within that constraint”.

Earlier before the student protests outside the Dáil, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin accused the Labour Party of “cheating students to win votes before an election”. He said Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn “brazenly went up to Trinity College four days before the last general election and he actually signed the USI pledge. So did you Tánaiste,” he told Mr Gilmore, a former USI president.

Mr Martin called for the Tánaiste to state categorically whether or not he would reverse the student registration charge and honour the party’s pledge.

He quoted Mr Quinn’s comments on Tuesday that “no such promises can be given and any such promises would be misleading”. Mr Martin added: “But four days before the election he could sign any pledge students put before him.” Mr Gilmore said however the previous government had also signed a pledge, the memorandum of understanding with the EU and IMF troika, and he quoted the then government’s commitment to “ensuring a greater student contribution towards tertiary education”.

The Tánaiste said he could not release details on education funding in advance of the budget and that Mr Martin knew that. He insisted however that the “political commitments the Labour Party entered into will be honoured but we have to work our way out of the programme the Fianna Fáil government saddled us with”.

When Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams raised the issue and asked why the Government would not honour its pledges on fees, Mr Gilmore said the Government was acutely aware of the difficulties many families had in financing their children’s education.

“Some 44 per cent of students in the State do not pay either tuition or registration fees because they are in receipt of grants. The remainder of students do not pay tuition fees and there is a registration fee.” He pointed to student fees at Queen’s University in Belfast of €3,837. He asked why that was acceptable in the North but Mr Adams was complaining about the registration fee down here “which is about half that amount”.

At education question time Mr Quinn refused to be drawn about his plans. He was studying the HEA’s report on higher education funding and would discuss it with his Cabinet colleagues. Mr Smith highlighted Mr Quinn’s “commitment and strong pledge” to the USI and the Tánaiste’s commitment “a year ago that he was opposed to third-level fees by either front or back door”.

Mr Quinn rounded on the Cavan-Monaghan TD and said “I don’t know how many times this has to be conveyed to the FF party. This country has lost its economic sovereignty. It was signed away 12 months ago by the government of which you were a member.”