Sir, - Four fellows of TCD propounded the theory (June 9th) that the decision to abolish university fees has made university education available free of charge to the children of the wealthiest members of our society without in any way addressing the severe financial difficulties that inhibit access to university education from the poorest and most disadvantaged sections of society". This was their reasoning for stating that "the decision to abolish university fees has been both unwise and retrogressive."
There is another section of society which they have, curiously, failed to include, and it comprises a very sizeable proportion of those who fulfil the academic criteria to attend university. These are the children of PAYE workers who have always had their parents income means-tested to determine their eligibility for a college grant of fees and maintenance. The cut-off point applied was ridiculously low and the vast majority of these parents were considered wealthy enough to pay for all of their children's third-level education, when in truth they were not.
Prior to Niamh Bhreathnach's decision to abolish third-level fees for all, these parents had to earn approximately £10,000 gross a year per child to pay for the average university fee, accommodation, travel and other expenses. The sums just didn't add up for the average PAYE family, resulting in considerable hardship and debt for those determined to sent their children to university.
The abolition of fees has been a very welcome light at the end of an extremely long tunnel for many of the ordinary families of this country and we owe a large debt of gratitude to Niamh Bhreathnach, the first Minister of Education to acknowledge our plight and do something courageous and creative about it.
So, I would say to you four fellows of TCD: please don't try to turn the clock back and return us to the dark days when only the children of university staff, regardless of the size of their parents' incomes (no means-testing there), had access to free university education. - Yours, etc.,
Douglas,
Cork.