Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
MINISTER FOR FURTHER and Higher Education Simon Harris has said he is “disappointed” at a decision by Bank of Ireland to discontinue a loan available to graduate medical students.
Minister Harris is due to bring a review of the Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) system to government, which will look at supports for students who pursue medicine through this route.
Fees for graduate entry medicine (GEM) students are now set at €16,290 per year for Irish students and €55,140 for non-EU students.
GEM students pursue the programme as a second degree – after first completing a separate related undergraduate degree - so they are not eligible for free fees funding or student grants.
The fees of participating EU students are partly subsidised by the State through the Higher Education Authority – in the 2020/2021 academic school year, the State contribution was €11,524 per student.
The Bank of Ireland loan, which was capped at €15,000 per year, contained a moratorium on repayments so graduates would not have to start paying back the loan until four years after they completed their degree.
The bank has said that those who have already taken out these loans will not be impacted, but that the loan will no longer be available for new applications after 31 July this year.
“The loan required a parental guarantee which was not an option for all students and the deferral of repayments meant accumulated debt by the end of term,” Bank of Ireland said in a statement.
“It has accounted for a very small volume of our overall lending and the volume has dropped in recent years, while our other loans became more popular.”
The bank said it has a number of other loans for undergraduates, postgraduates and graduates.
“These include our student loan to fund back to college expenses, travel or living expenses, and our postgraduate loan. We also offer extremely competitive rates via a Personal Loan up to €65,000.”
‘Disappointed’
A spokesperson for Minister Harris told The Journal he was “disappointed with this decision”.
“His main concern is the cost of graduate entry medicine to the student,” she said.
Advertisement
“He is due to bring the Susi review to government shortly and will consider how to better support students in this context.”
Ruairí Power, President of UCD Students’ Union, told The Journal that it will be important that affected students are considered as part of the Susi review.
“You can’t separate the discussion on loan requirements from the fee levels themselves,” he said. “The single most-effective measure the government could take would be to reduce the up-front cost for students.
“Loans are not an overall solution here, but having this loan facility removed pulled the rug out from under students and left them with no viable alternative.”
He said students who were intending to pursue a GEM are now planning to take a couple of years out to work and save the funds they need to continue with their education.
“It’s either that or people will go abroad, and right now we have a chronic shortfall in recruitment and retention in the health service so a lack of access into that course will be a problem.
“It was also meant to diversify the field and if it’s only available exclusively to those with a large amount of accumulated wealth it defeats the purpose of the GEM scheme.”
‘Colossal money’
Speaking in the Seanad earlier this week, Minister for State Anne Rabbitte said the decision “was sprung upon the government, and now the government is dealing with the matter as quickly as it can”.
“This is a priority for the government,” she said. “We do not want to be in such a situation where we cannot recruit young people into these courses because they cannot afford them.”
She said these loans were “so helpful because they acknowledged the level of professionalism required in such courses, that they were intensive and that there would be an opportunity at the end to work and earn enough income to repay them”.
“Removing the loans from the market makes it difficult for students to consider pursuing such careers. Parents may not have the funding or correct credit status to be successful guarantors.”
Minister Rabbitte was responding to a question on the issue from Labour Party Senator Annie Hoey, who referenced a survey of Irish GEM students which found that the majority require external financial support to pay the university fees.
“We all know how much those university fees are; they are €16,000 per year to study GEM,” she said. “That is colossal money. It is €64,000 that they have to take out as a loan. Some 74% of those who responded have or would have eventually sought to avail of the Bank of Ireland loan and that is a significant number.”
“The fees were already exorbitant and we have had conversations before about how it is unrealistic to expect people to pay them,” Senator Hoey said. “We will never have any sort of diversity in medicine if we have the likes of €16,000 per year fees and if we are locking people out of loans for that money because they cannot get guarantors or take out a personal loan.”
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
30 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
It won’t help one bit for two reasons. Firstly because Russia has been having enough financial resources to help it through sanctions for years and will continue to do so, and secondly because this isn’t even about the military Nato threat the Russians claim is bothering them.
There simply isn’t enough Nato military power in the area to outgun the Russians for that claim to hold, so it has to be about something else, which I think is the Kremlin being terrified that a democratic revolution could at some point reach Moscow.
The whole thing started with an EU association treaty in 2014 – this triggered the Maidan crisis and the subsequent annexation of Crimea. Moreover Boris Johnson is still sitting on a collusion report into UK elections and the Brexit referendum, presumably because it would embarrassingly expose how Russia scored a major geopolitical victory with that referedum outcome.
So I think Nato isn’t the real enemy so much from Russia’s perspective. It’s democracy in general, and the EU in particular. They don’t like the idea of this system sitting next to them because of what it advocates, and they don’t like people witnessing its success because it threatens them, and this is what makes the situation so dangerous, because if democracy is the enemy, then what sort of contained solution will pacify the Kremlin? There is no such solution I’m afraid.
@Mick Tobin: the sanctions imposed over Crimea did have a very negative effect on the Russian economy. Look at the exchange rate of the ruble over the last ten years and you’ll see it lose over 50% of it’s value nearly overnight.
I’m not saying the sanctions will deter Russia. But the last round did have a strong measurable negative effect. But they’re not going to cause the economy to disappear overnight, and at a certain point it will adapt. No more than North Korea functions without much of any access to the world economy. Just because it’s priced in, and doesn’t cause the regime to collapse doesn’t mean the negative effect isn’t there.
Any Family members of any high ranking government, military, oligarchs should have their visa cancelled in the West and given 24 hour’s too leave. Freeze all Bank accounts no matter which bank they’re in. If the West don’t do anything it’s like Hitler and his actions all over again.
It’s hard to see these sanctions having any meaningful impact. The over use of economic sanctions on places like Cuba/ Venezuela/ Iran/ Syria/ N.Korea have pushed them into the arms of China and Russia, effectively nullifying their inpact. Chinas is now the world’s biggest economy and its balance of trade boomed despite US sanctions – their Belt and Road Initiative has attracted over 130 countries, making them the dominant global economic power. This is causing panic stations for countries who have used economic power to bully colonies/ small countries in the past.
WH says sanctions are already impacting …the reality is their not. Putin and Co have being planning this for years. He shorting the dollar over gold… Ukraine is a major supplier of Neon … higher..and ..HIGHER prices to come.. fertiliser prices to increase..impacting food prices in 12 months or so….
Have a funny feeling those sanctions will have more of an impact on us ala higher again fuel prices and the knock on effect of higher prices of everything than any real impact on Russia
There will be loads of posturing and huffing and puffing then it will all blow over. Gas transit through Ukraine will be throttled. Europe needs the gas. NS2 will be in operation inside 12 months.
We are a neutral country so why are we taking sides. I don’t see any sanctions against isreal when the are taking palestinian land on a continuous basis. Double standards from the west.
Did the Americans put all sorts of bases and the like around Russia years ago which caused them to build up military resources in all sorts of far out places in Russia, which essentially became an arms race, eventually collapsing their economy, this time, they are more armed and funded, but still hurt from before, egotistically.
How to resolve this one is anyones guess but being slightly left of centre and soft might not work, or at least get the west a lot less at the negotiation table.
The west wanting, in this case, Russia not deploying it’s army outside its borders .
It’s a tough one alright.
Pope Francis had 'peaceful' night in hospital, Vatican says
Updated
4 hrs ago
14.5k
rare disease day
Dublin schoolgirl with rare skin disease prepares for move to secondary school
18 mins ago
902
2
The Morning Lead
People living in illegal cabins - including family forced to dismantle home - tell their stories
16 hrs ago
40.1k
82
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say