Third-level fees will be introduced for students from "very wealthy" families next October, although the Cabinet will not decide on the income thresholds to be applied until the end of May, write Mark Hennessy and Sean Flynn
Yesterday, both the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, moved to address concerns that middle-class families could be hit by the change.
The review of the fees system by Department of Education officials will be completed and brought to Cabinet shortly.
"I want to bring finality to this within two or three weeks," Mr Dempsey said. "For some of the people we are talking about, it will just mean that they will not be able to afford their second or third holiday.
"It isn't the case that they are going to be on the poverty line if they are charged," he went on.
The income thresholds chosen by the Cabinet will bear heavily on the Minister's future reputation, since they must be high enough to avoid political fall-out and yet low enough to raise significant revenue.
The prospect that fees could return has caused concern amongst Fianna Fáil TDs, with many worried that the Progressive Democrats appear to leading the internal opposition to it.
Refusing to speculate about earning limits, Mr Dempsey said the change would affect only "the very wealthy people" who are already able to send all of their children to college and university. In the Dáil, however, the Taoiseach went further by indicating that the change would affect only those families earning six-figure incomes.
"There is nobody talking about bringing in fees for people on moderate or even on what most people would regard as high incomes," he told the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte.
"It does not make much sense that there are people who have incomes in excess of several hundred thousand euro who get free education and there are others who cannot get access to education," Mr Ahern went on.
Pushing for reform for months, Minister Dempsey has argued that the abolition of free fees in 1994 has done nothing to improve the ability of the poor to get into third-level.
Nearly every child from a high-income professional family goes to third level, yet just 4 to 5 per cent of those from poor inner-city districts get the same opportunity, Mr Dempsey told The Irish Times. Work on the Department of Education's review of third-level fees is being finalised. It is still not clear whether the review will set a precise income threshold for those who could be asked to pay fees. Some in the Department believe the Minister should simply present an "options paper" to the Cabinet detailing the various alternatives.
In recent months, the ESRI has been examining the possible impact of a return of fees on those within certain income categories. An Australian style loan scheme - where students repay the cost of their tuition fees once they secure a job - is still on the agenda.
Poorer students or those who fail to secure employment above a certain income threshold would be exempt from the loan scheme.
The review is also set to herald major reform in the higher education grant scheme. Mr Dempsey believes that the current system favours the self-employed and farmers at the expense of PAYE workers.
It is also expected that the Minister will again increase the student registration charge for those who can afford to pay it.
Questioned about the opposition aired at Tuesday's Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting, Mr Dempsey said TDs had "no huge problem with the principle" as long as the income thresholds are high.