2 weeks Ago
Turning off the tap is far more difficult than turning it on. So it goes for supports added during a time of crisis. When the emergency ends, it’s hard to tell those who became dependent on the help that it’s all back to normal.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is trying to break the bad news early by signalling that there are no plans to continue energy credits or introduce a new cost-of-living package in the next Budget. The energy credits were included in the last couple of budgets as part of the Government’s response to the cost-of-living challenges prompted by the post-Covid pandemic surge in inflation. Regardless of their own income, domestic electricity customers got €250 off their electricity bills through two instalments.
A further batch of social welfare-based payments were also targeted specifically at those on low incomes. Six months out from Budget 2026, the Taoiseach is ruling out continuing the measure by saying another cost-of-living package will not be happening. You have been warned.
The first year after a general election is always the best time for ministers to bite the bullet on a measure that will be unpopular. The same logic forms part of the idea behind ending the grade inflation that was added into the Leaving Cert system to compensate for the loss of teaching, cancellation of exams and use of teacher-predicted grades due to Covid. The grade inflation was necessary at the height of the pandemic, but there has been a continued reluctance to wean students off the extra marks.
The added credit resulted in Leaving Cert students’ grades soaring during the early parts of this decade. Then the problem was when to end it as there was an argument that it would be unfair on pupils who were also going through the school system during Covid. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has already ruled out any further budget cost-of-living packages.
Photo: Niall Carson And so it became a case of matching the results to the levels achieved the previous year. This domino effect has also taken over the CAO college offers system. Higher grades means higher points.
Last year, the 61,000 students who sat their Leaving Cert saw their grades boosted by an average of 7.5pc. But some didn’t get the place they wanted or got another course but turned it down.
Anything up to 10,000 students with 2024 inflated grades are going to be entering the race for college places this year, when the boosted marks will be lower – at about 5.5pc. And hence the system is getting gamed.
The unlevel playing field will be seen particularly around much-coveted places in courses like medicine, veterinary and pharmacy. The inflated grades will give the class of 2024 a head start of anything up to 60 points – a significant gap in a tight race. With so many students getting top marks, universities are uncertain if they are really getting the best candidates for the courses.
Education Minister Helen McEntee has an obligation to explain how the system will be unravelled to prevent an unfair advantage being exploited from one year to the next. It’s not an easy task..
