If it was exam-time for the Taoiseach and the Minister for Education, they would get "0 per cent" for clarity about who would be paying third-level fees, Labour's education spokeswoman Ms Jan O'Sullivan told the Dáil.
She was speaking as the Opposition made a renewed attempt to specify the salary cut-off point for the requirement to pay college fees. Ms O'Sullivan said their no-grade result was for the "confusion they spread all over the country". Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, asked "is the Cabinet going to shaft the Minister for Education or the parents?", to which the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey quickly riposted "the way you shafted the working classes".
Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny, who raised the issue, pointed to the revised Education Estimates for €647,832,000. The Estimates cover the remainder of this year and are stated to be for "the payment of sundry grants and grants-in-aid in respect of third-level and further education".
Mr Kenny said the Taoiseach appeared to be talking about an "echelon of society at a very high level", of the order of €150,000 or €200,000, and he called for an explanation of the estimate because it was of interest to "hundreds of thousands of parents and students throughout the country".
On Wednesday, the Taoiseach told the Dáil that "nobody is talking about bringing in fees for people on moderate or even on what most people would regard as high incomes". But there were "people who have incomes in excess of several hundred thousand euro who get free educations and there are other people who live on welfare who cannot get access to education". Mr Dempsey had told reporters he intended to have fees in place by October, but it would not mean people would be on the poverty line. It would "just mean that they won't be able to afford their second or third holiday".
Mr Kenny said there was a "cloud of uncertainty" hanging over students, but the Ceann Comhairle, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, said the issue could be discussed when the Estimates came before the Dáil.
