The acknowledgement by the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, that third-level fees may be reintroduced for those who can afford them is certain to provoke considerable controversy. In the course of an interview in today's Education and Parenting pages, the minister addresses the issue of educational inequality in a searching and thought-provoking way.
The minister is clearly moved by the recent statistics showing how university remains largely the preserve of the middle and upper classes. "If I look at €175 million the State is paying out in tuition fees (to the colleges) I have to ask myself if people on my income level should be getting the benefit of this".
Mr Dempsey appears to favour a new approach whereby savings made from the reintroduction of fees for those who can afford them will be diverted to those with genuine needs. He stresses that the possible abolition of free fees would not achieve any savings for the Exchequer. Maintenance grants and other supports would be widened to help those with real needs. "I am not there to penalise the middle classes. But I think the wealthy should be able to meet their own expenses," he said.
Mr Dempsey is clearly aware of the political risks involved in the reintroduction of fees. Their abolition in 1995 by the then education minister, Ms Niamh Bhreathneach, was regarded as a boon for the middle classes. Many parents who are struggling with increased medical and other expenses will be aghast that the reintroduction of college fees is back on the political agenda.
But it is also clear - not least from the recent statistics published in The Irish Times - that the abolition of fees has failed to widen university access. At the time, the Rainbow Government claimed that free fees would open the gates of third-level colleges to those who had been traditionally excluded. This has not happened. The fact that nine of the ten main feeder schools for UCD are fee-paying speaks volumes.
The abolition of fees has been described by one leading social justice campaigner as "one of the most regressive acts" by any administration in recent years. There is more than a grain of truth in this. A recent study by the Higher Education Authority found that only a tiny proportion of students come from a household headed by an unskilled or semi-skilled worker. The reality is that "free fees" have been a wonderful gift to the middle and upper classes - at a time when these groups have enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity.
Now, as we face a period of retrenchment, Mr Dempsey is to be commended for raising questions about the continued fairness of "free fees" for all. He wants to divert any savings made to those with real needs. He appears intent on addressing educational disadvantage in a serious way.
Can anyone who believes in social justice raise an objection?