‘Fees debate distracting from chronic underfunding’

Our universities are suffering massive and chronic underfunding. This problem is not new, it has been building up and getting worse for years now. The latest round of financial cutbacks could not have come at a worse time. The system is already at breaking point.

Our universities are suffering massive and chronic underfunding. This problem is not new, it has been building up and getting worse for years now. The latest round of financial cutbacks could not have come at a worse time. The system is already at breaking point.

As someone who cares passionately for the health of our national system of higher education I have admired the relentless campaign by the heads of our universities to raise awareness of the extent of Government underfunding of this sector so vital for our economic, social and cultural wellbeing.
But I have been dismayed to note that increasingly of late the campaign for more funding has been coupled with strident calls for the return of fees. I believe this has been a tactical mistake. In fact, I would go so far as to say that in this regard the university presidents have shot themselves in the foot.

Consider the following:
The demand for the return of fees has split the very constituency which should have been united in the demand for more funding. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is opposed, the trade unions are opposed, parents are opposed. Our cause has been weakened.

Those demanding the return of fees seem to have believed (despite clear indications from the former minister Ms Hanafin amongst others) that any income so received would be in on top of the State funds. In good times this was naive, in the present economic climate it is just foolish. It is a “no-brainer” that any alternative source of funding will now be seized upon by the Department of Finance as a means of saving them an equivalent amount.

Those calling for fees said that they hope the Government would be “courageous” in this regard. But did they really believe that any set of politicians was going to be “courageous” as to impose fees on everyone? Surely a moment’s reflection would have led to the conclusion that fees were only going to be imposed on “those who can afford it”, however defined. The higher the income threshold for fees, the less the political risk. However, the higher the threshold the less the yield. We are likely to spend almost as much in administering the means test as will be brought in by fees. The game will not be worth the candle.

Finally, everyone accepts that fees are a big deal politically. It is your ultimate “hot potato”. Though no one is surprised that the minister needs “to take his time before deciding”.

The only problem is while he is ruminating, we are starving. How could we have allowed our simple, clear, focused demand for more funds to be diffused and blunted in this manner?

Earlier this year the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) made a call for all those who care about our higher education system to forget their differences and come together to demand the funding that we so urgently need.

Is it not time to leave the ideological debate about fees to one side and concentrate simply on getting the State to help us pay our bills?

Mike Jennings is General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers. This article first appeared in the Irish Independent.