Sir, – The country is broke, yet tens of thousands of students march in the streets demanding that the taxpayer continue to foot the bill for their education.
Many thousands of these are likely to emigrate soon after they graduate. When will the taxpaying public ever see a return on its investment in the beneficiaries – and as a recent emigrant I include myself in this – of the current system?
While that system is now clearly unsustainable it is most regrettable that Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has set his face against a deferred loans system, which would ensure that poor but talented students are not deterred from third level by high upfront costs. It is time to give up on “free fees”, just as surely as it is time to give up this something-for-nothing mentality that helped bring Ireland to its knees in the first place. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – The only people who seemed to protest about the cuts to entitlements to the 70-year-olds were the over-70s.
Similarly, the vast majority of people protesting against cuts to the public sector were the public sector and this week the people who took to the streets regarding cuts to students were by and large students.
There is a distinct pattern here of people who think things that impact on them are so unacceptable that they disrupt everyone else.
On the other hand, people who see their taxes increasing or their social welfare slashed are either too busy or just not sophisticated enough to organise any sort of protest.
In this time of crisis, tough economic decisions should not be guided by who shouts the loudest but by only what best serves the common good. – Is mise,
Sir, – When my parents educated me, they informed me with the greatest respect that our politicians were highly and well educated people to serve in office. Therefore I am distressed now when I read what the Minister for Education is stating this week: that the country is facing a very difficult time, more difficult than anyone had anticipated or realised, and the country had lost its sovereignty.
This appears to contradict what Fianna Fáil TD for Mayo Dara Calleary said (March 4th, 2011). “He said that Department of Finance officials had fully briefed both parties in the run-up to the budget”.
If it’s the case that both parties in the present Government were briefed, was the present Minister for Education asleep? Because he appears to have missed the briefing or the contents prior to signing his pledge to the student community. – Yours, etc,