Cost of Repeating in Third Level

Many young people now go through Third Level Education here in Ireland and an increasing number are going back to education.  The free tuition frees make this a possibility for many.  The government and governments past must be commended for its introduction and retention.  What concerns me though is that students repeating a year are liable for upfront payment of the necessary fees.  I agree that a student should pay for any repeated year, but asking a student to pay upfront and straight away before the repeated year starts is a huge barrier for many students who may not have done well in a certain year and wish to back to try the year again.  As the state normally pays for a four year degree for any person who enters into such a program a student should not have to pay any fees until they have finished their fourth year of their time in college.  A student who repeats second year for example should not be liable to pay any fees until that student enters the fourth year of their degree program but would be their fifth year in college.  I call on the Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn to consider this as a pressing issue and to ease the burden on students who wish to repeat a year without being prevented due to financial constraints.  Also I would ask of the Minister to make efforts to make financial institutions give loans to students wishing to repeat, even if it means adding some degree of Government Guarantee to any such loans.