Dr Charles Larkin, a Trinity Economics lecturer and research associate, has warned that the student loan scheme proposed in the Cassells Report could cost €10 billion over 12 years. Dr Larkin said Ireland’s higher education system is neither small enough nor large enough to properly implement a loan contingent scheme.
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This figure is based off an analysis of the suggested scheme, which Dr Larkin carried out with Dr Shaen Corbet, a Finance lecturer from Dublin City University (DCU). Dr Larkin outlined his analysis at the launch of the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA), a representative body for Ireland’s 14 institutes of technology. He added that this calculation included State support of grant recipients.
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THEA’s chief executive, Dr Joseph Ryan, also addressed the crisis at the event, saying students should not be barred from higher education because of funding issues.
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The Cassells Report is based on an investigation into higher education funding in Ireland, carried out by a government working group. The group was tasked with investigating possible solutions to Ireland’s higher education funding crisis. The Report was submitted to the Department of Education last July, and since forwarded to the Oireachtas Education Committee.
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The report suggested the imposition of an income loan contingent system as one option. This proposal has drawn criticism from students’ unions across Ireland, as well as the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). In November 2015, the Students Against Fees (SAF) group was founded in Trinity, after a Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Council vote to oppose the imposition of loans and fees was defeated. This January, TCDSU Council voted to support a tax-funded higher education system, in opposition to a loan scheme.
