The return of third-level fees appears more likely after a study commissioned by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe said the move would generate more than €500 million a year. Dr Noel Woods, an economist at University College Cork found that a family income threshold of €120,000 for fees would generate €530 million in revenue. An income threshold of €160,000 per household would generate €220 million a year while an income threshold of €140,000 would raise €290 million. Labour's education spokesman Ruairí Quinn has questioned the accuracy of figures in the Woods report. The Labour Party, maintains that the figure grossly exaggerates the take from fees and flatly contradicts estimates prepared for former education minister Noel Dempsey. Staff here should include themselves in the campaign because, when you think about it, 50% of the staff here probably have a combined household income of more than 100K.

But, comrades, I maintain that there should be no introduction of fees at all.

Cian made a good point when he described the funding of education as underfunding. International research shows that investment in third-level education has dropped here in Ireland. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report reveals a fall in the proportion of national income spent on higher education, a fall from 1.5% of national income in 1995 to 1.2% in 2005, if you do the maths this is effectively a drop of around 25% in actual funding over 10 years. Those were the years when we could have invested hard earned resources in education. When the average investment in developed countries was 1.5%. The share of our national wealth spent on education has dropped to the third lowest in Europe. We spend less per student on education than most OECD countries.

The university has been asked by this government to take a cut of 5% in the staff wage bill. So not only has investment in the higher education been cut but we are being asked to put a halt in recruiting staff.

The trade union is currently negotiating redeployment and flexibility with the management of the university. This must at some stage involve redundancy negotiations.

Everyone should oppose fees. Talk to your local representitives. Become politically active at college. Protest with the students union. Quite simply the reintroduction of fees can be defeated by the threat of reduced support at the ballot box.