LEFTFIELD:SHORTLY AFTER becoming Taoiseach for the first time in 1981, the late Dr Garrett FitzGerald was shocked on being told how bad the nations' finances were. He convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to deal with the situation knowing that the majority of his election promises would simply have to be abandoned.
But the current Government has no such excuse. Both Government parties knew exactly how bad our fiscal situation was. Both parties had access to the Department of Finance. They made clear, unambiguous promises – now they must stand over them.
Shortly before the election, Ruairí Quinn and Eamon Gilmore signed a pledge on behalf of the Labour Party that if in Government, after the election, they would not accept any increase in college fees or reduction of the higher education grant. At the time it was looking entirely possible that, for the first time, a single party Fine Gael government would be elected. This turned out not to be the case, with Labour showing a late surge and Fine Gael’s support dropping slightly back as if voters wanted Fine Gael tempered by Labour. With more than 200,000 students in higher education, plus the votes of their families and friends, it is probable that Labour owes its place in Government to those crucial thousands of votes that switched from Fine Gael to Labour on the basis of that pledge.
Labour knew well, or ought to have known, if they could actually deliver what they stated in that pledge. Similarly, Fine Gael committed not to increase registration fees further.
Claiming, in a post-election environment, that the situation is dramatically different from what they had been told is simply taking the Irish people for fools.
Today USI has taken a full-page advertisement in national newspapers to remind politicians of their pre-election promises. It is up to every student, parent and community to ensure every TD thinks long and hard about what they committed to during election 2011. There is a myth that Irish students do not pay colleges fees while the situation on the ground does not reflect this.
At €2,000, plus local college levies for sports and student facilities, Ireland currently has the second-highest level of fees anywhere in Europe. Only the UK has higher fees and with their participation rate not much more than half of Ireland’s, it is easy to see what will happen if college fees increase yet again.
In recent weeks there has been much debate surrounding our universities’ position in world rankings, and while the recent slide is worrying it must be remembered that rankings are not a guide to the quality of graduates. For a small country with a population of just over 4.5 million people, our higher education system plays a central role on the international stage and we must not make any short-sighted decisions that may have long-term negative ramifications.
We need a fundamental reform of higher education in Ireland. We need to embrace distance and online learning. The size, number and variety of our institutions needs to be re-examined. We need to radically increase the number of non-EU students studying in Ireland.
There are many tough decisions
to be taken over the coming weeks but by choosing to invest in education, we will be able to foster a knowledge based economy and take advantage of every opportunity in the future.
Gary Redmond is president of the Union of Students in Ireland
