As Fianna Fáil backbenchers said yesterday that the college fees affair had been a "disaster" for the party, the Taoiseach defended the Government's management of the controversy and accused Labour of adopting the policies of the right.
Mr Ahern said the Government had achieved what it set out to do and said the controversy was about "about access and not free education". He attacked the Labour Party, claiming that it did not care "two hells" about educational disadvantage. That was a "real story" of the debate, he said.
He claimed the parties of the "so-called left, which is really the right, the capitalist Labour Party", were set against his efforts to increase third-level access.
His comments were immediately rejected by the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, who accused Mr Ahern of "incoherent sniping" and panic at voter anger over spending cutbacks. Mr Rabbitte said Fianna Fáil's efforts to bring back fees "for working families" had been thwarted. He said a high initial income threshold for fees would have inevitably come down.
While Mr Ahern claimed his "one element of sorrow" was that few people seemed to care about increasing access to third-level education, Fianna Fáil backbenchers said the affair damaged the party's standing to the advantage of the PDs.
TDs welcomed the initiative to improve access, but many questioned the manner of its achievement. "It's absolutely disastrous. I can't understand it," said one influential figure. "There wasn't a word on the damage to the party."
Referring to the influence seen to be exerted by the PDs in their refusal to accept the reintroduction of fees, another TD said: "It's not exactly the way we'd like to do business." Another experienced TD said he believed the Minister for Education would not have pushed the fees question for so long if he did not have instructions from Mr Ahern to do so.
"I got the impression from him that he wasn't stepping out of line," he said.
Another TD said: "[The Minister, Mr\] Dempsey wouldn't have gone so far without being told by the leader. I'd say he was very much let down in the end."
Repeating that the cancellation of fees in the mid-1990s was a "regressive step", the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said it was obvious that their reintroduction would not be acceptable to "a wide variety" of politicians.
"Noel Dempsey said quite clearly that the issue of fees is off the table for the lifetime of this Government and that is the situation," he said.
Other Fianna Fáil TDs also welcomed Mr Dempsey's initiative.
Mr John Ellis (Sligo) said: "The bottom line is that I would come at it as a very positive step. It's a major improvement, especially for people from rural backgrounds." Mr Michael Mulcahy (Dublin South Central) said: "It's a success for Minister Dempsey. He managed to prise €42 million out of the system." Anyone, he said, who approached Mr McCreevy for 42 cents would be refused.
The Taoiseach restated his view that the very rich should pay for their children's education. However, he said establishing such a system might not be workable. "I paid for my own kids' education right through most of their second level in school and I don't have any problem. But the old argument is how do you define wealthy people."
Asked if the Minister for Education would be moved in any Cabinet reshuffle, he expressed his support. "When Noel Dempsey was made Minister for Education I asked him to do as much as he could to help disadvantaged. He's done that with special education, with first level and with people who drop out of the education system and now with people at third level."