Funding higher education is better use of money than repaying bailout loans early

Sir, – Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris’s proposal to repay €8 billion in bailout loans ahead of schedule raises a question of priorities. How can the Government find billions of euro to repay creditors early while pleading scarcity when asked to fund higher education adequately?

As the original Minister for Further and Higher Education, appointed to the then-new role in 2020, Harris launched Funding the Future in 2022, acknowledging an annual core funding shortfall of €307 million. Since then, growing student numbers, inflation and additional pay costs have intensified the pressures on institutions.

Yet a significant funding gap remains, as the budget for the sector has only increased by about €174m per year since 2022, and the 2027 budget proposes to increase the budget by a further €10m. This falls far short of addressing the accumulated deficit and leaves institutions facing further deterioration as costs rise.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report called Education at a Glance 2026 places Ireland among the countries devoting the lowest shares of GDP to education. While Ireland’s GDP requires caution in international comparisons, the funding weakness is also evident per student: public expenditure at bachelor’s level and above was the equivalent of $14,799 (€13,290), against an OECD average of $16,405, adjusted for purchasing power.

Education creates a fairer society and generates financial returns through higher earnings, tax revenues, productivity and innovation. Those returns deserve consideration alongside the projected €90 million saving from early debt repayment.

Harris knows the problem intimately. He now has the opportunity, and the responsibility, to honour the funding commitment he made. Allowing higher education to deteriorate while accelerating repayment of yesterday’s debts is false economy. – Yours, etc,

FRANK JONES,

General secretary,

Irish Federation of University Teachers,

Dublin 1.