Tags: Batt O' Keeffe, Cork, education, Fianna Fáil, Ireland, Labour, Ruairí Quinn

Batt O Keeffe

THE Education Minister, Deputy Batt O’ Keeffe has this evening hit out at Labour Party TD, Ruairí Quinn’s statement on the re-introduction of third level fees saying that his contribution is “another bout of hyperbole from a politician increasingly prone to melodrama.”

Earlier today, the Labour Party TD criticised the Minister over his failure to finalise his plans for the re-introduction of third level fees saying that “dithering, the doubt, and the delay of his Ministerial handling of this matter is a good indication of his managerial incompetence.”

However, this evening the Education Minister said that Deputy Quinn’s comments were ‘erratic’. “Last month, Deputy Quinn made wild allegations in the Dáil about civil servants.Now he’s making erratic claims about my management style,” he said.

This week, Minister O’Keeffe is expected to circulate to his Cabinet colleagues a report containing five main options for the introduction of a third-level student contribution. He said that this report took a number of months to complete because he wanted to draw on international models of best practice.

A spokesperson for the Minister said that Minister O’ Keeffe  wants his Cabinet colleagues’ observations on the options in the report before formally presenting his own recommendation to them at a Cabinet meeting later in the year.

“The report will not contain any specific recommendation from Minister O’Keeffe who wants to be informed by the views of his Cabinet colleagues.

“The decision on whether to introduce a student contribution will be taken collectively by the Cabinet,” he said.