How education policy is made

Martin has posted a link below to a very interesting lecture on Research and Policy Making given by Frances Ruane, director of the ESRI. The following observation I found striking:

"Getting something into the ‘programme for government’ in effect ensures that a policy is likely to be adopted, but perhaps just as importantly, has the effect of terminating any substantive debate subsequently on the issue. From what I can see, this is what happened to the De Buitléir Report on student grants mentioned earlier: there was a commitment to increasing access to higher education in the 1993 programme (which led to the report being commissioned) but in the negotiations of the 1995 programme that shifted to a commitment to ‘free fees’. This decision ran counter to the report’s evidence that this approach would not be the most cost effective or fair way of improving access, and consequently the report was kept out of the public domain until after the decision was made. What can we learn from this? Unless research is publicly available to inform the ‘programme for government’ process, its potential influence may be quite limited; even when it is available, it may be ignored."

The general theory of stupidity, university fees and utter baloney

This Irish Times article discusses the Green Party's apparent aversion to a new system of student charges that - apparently- the government is considering introducing. The proposal is for a new "student contribution fee" on top of the existing student registration charge.
According to their spokesman, a Mr Gogarty, this would conflict with the Program for Government which agreed that “This Government will not proceed with any new scheme of student contribution to third-level education.” Yes, it certainly sounds inconsistent.
The spokesman adds " “We have conceded that the new student charge that’s coming in is going to be higher than the registration fee it replaces, but the question is, how much higher? If it is too high, then it’s basically fees by the back door....That’s non-negotiable as far as I am concerned,”

A fee is a fee whatever you call it. Just as calling a tax a "contribution" or a "levy" makes no difference. So if you concede that there is a new charge being introduced then it is a fee on top of the fee that is already there. To say "if its too high then it's basically fees by the back door" is risible in my view. It is fees by the front door and irrespective of the level set.
And what is "too high" anyway? If it was €10 would that be too high? Eh, no. €10,000? Eh, yes. So it is negotiable actually.
In the discussions about how the government's book-keeping deals with expenditures related to the banking rescue it has been emphasized again and again that international markets see through any creative accounting. These people are not stupid. Likewise students and their parents are not stupid: they know a shake-down when they see one. So why is it so hard for politicians to be transparent and honest about such an important issue?
It seems that the "Fees debate" will continue to attract incoherent thinking, dissembling and general woolly-mindedness.