Fans of numbers, statistics and figures are surely having an absolute field day today. After being, rightly, shunned for the majority of the year, they're suddenly in their element when it comes to budget day and everyone goes absolutely ballistic over percentiles.
Well, with the announcement of 2018's national budget today, anyone who has been alive and conscious in Ireland for the previous decade will be pleasantly surprised to see the very recent upward trend in public spending and tax breaks for working families continue. Leo Varadkar yesterday said that the budget would not be overly ostentatious but would crucially be slackening the strangling legacy of austerity. As part of this it was announced today that an extra €47.5 million would be spent on higher and further educational services this year.
However, USI has hit out at the government for failing to reduce the student contribution fee by €250 as had been hoped. They did however welcome the fact that no income-contingent loan scheme would be introduced, which having received significant flak after it was announced as a possibility for the basis of a restructuring of third-level funding, had been denounced by Varadkar. Michael Kerrigan, president of the USI said,
No income-contingent student loans were announced today, but neither was any meaningful new funding model on how third-level education should be funded. A €250 decrease in fee level would come at a relatively small cost to the State, and alleviated pressure on the payment of fees that have doubled over a period of six years.
The government have also pledged to free up some €310 million by 2021 for the third level sector for the development of infrastructure, while saying that the additional €47.5 million which they would endeavour to make available by the end of next year, would be funded through an increase in the National Training Fund levy.
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Despite this investment pledge, there's been criticism for the fact that none of this money will be going toward what are seen as key issues for students, namely that no extra money will be allocated for the SUSI grant scheme or university mental health services.
All of this is, I think we can agree, scintillating stuff. If breakdowns of elaborate national budgets aren't your thing then please leave, you are not welcome here. If they are however your thing, then unfortunately you must also leave, as this is the end of the article.
H/T: The Irish Times
