Sinn Féin delivers another blow to education in NI with increases to university fees – O’Reilly

“Last week it was confirmed that university fees in Northern Ireland are to rise to £3,805 (€5,300) for 2015/2016. This is despite the fact that Sinn Féin, in its programme for Government, committed that there would be no increase in fees beyond the rate of inflation, and it comes alongside four consecutive years of cuts to the education budget in the north”, says Joe O’Reilly, Fine Gael TD for Cavan/Monaghan.

“Third level fees in the North are set to rise to £3,805 (€5,300) compared to €3,000 in the South. This increase is a clear breach of the party’s commitment not to increase fees beyond the rate of inflation. It comes following four consecutive years of cuts which have seen the closure of 100 schools, as well as 2,500 redundancies; 1,500 non-teaching and 1,000 teaching.

“Sinn Féin, in the republic, has been very vocal in its criticisms of budget measures introduced that impact on education. There is no doubt that some very difficult decisions had to be made but now, as the economy here recovers, the Government is in the position to employ 1,700 new teachers this year and to allocate an additional €60m to the education budget.

“ Sinn Féin in the republic is in favour of abolishing the Local Property Tax, Water Charges, and USC for those earning under €35,000 as well as reversing a number of social welfare decisions. In total this would cost an estimated €4.25 billion. They have provided no fair or realistic options for recouping this money. Raising taxes has been the only solution provided.

“Protecting education resources and access to education is a priority for our Government in the South. We are committed to providing a secure and sustainable educational system that will benefit the maximum number of young people. The increase in university fees introduced by Sinn Féin in Government in Northern Ireland, will have a major impact on parents and young people. This is another example of Sinn Féin breaking promises in Northern Ireland and criticising policies in the south that they have implemented themselves north of the border.”