Fees decision 'needed this month'

7 July 2011 Last updated at 15:37 GMT NI university fees still unclear for students

The employment and learning minister has said he hopes the executive can resolve the issue of university tuition fees by the end of this month.

Stephen Farry said school leavers and universities needed "clarity" in the "very near future".

He tabled a paper for Thursday's executive meeting suggesting a number of options on fees, but it was not discussed.

One of the options was to cap fees at ?3,200 a year plus inflation.

That is just over a third of what English universities can charge.

However, Mr Farry warned: "Let's not kid ourselves if that is the route we go then there will be consequences for other budgets."

Mr Farry said setting tuition fee levels was not solely his decision, but a collective one for the executive.

He called for "full engagement" by all the parties and said it was important to have a decision "during July".

Priority

The next executive meeting is not scheduled until September, but the minister said: "There are mechanisms by which decisions can be taken outside the context of formal executive meetings.

"Discussions will happen over the next few days and we will see where those lead to."

The outstanding disagreements concern how a projected ?40m shortfall should be plugged, with the possibility of other department's budgets being "top sliced" so each makes a contribution.

Earlier, the head of the University of Ulster said fees should be kept as low as possible, but the executive should fund the shortfall not universities.

Provost, Professor Deirdre Heenan said: "We have always made it clear that we believe student fees should be kept as low as possible.

"In this context, we believe that the NI Executive should agree that funding the ?40m shortfall would be necessary, appropriate and a priority."

Professor Heenan said under a devolved government, rebuilding the local economy was a top priority and that meant a skilled and educated workforce.

Universities also ensure a level of research and learning which makes NI globally competitive, she said.

It's thought student fees will be capped

"We do not want to deny young people educational opportunities," she said.

Professor Heenan said the cap on the number of full-time students in Northern Ireland should also be relaxed.

Northern Ireland is the last part of the UK to make a decision on fees.

In June, the heads of NI's two universities warned higher education budget cuts would be "catastrophic".

During the assembly election campaign the DUP, Sinn Fein and the SDLP all opposed any increase in the fees.

Although Mr Farry's paper canvassed a number of options, it is thought that a cap of about ?3,200 plus inflation would have been the mostly likely to be put in place.

View the original article here

'No decision' on UK helicopters

24 May 2011 Last updated at 14:40 GMT France is said to be deploying Tigre and Gazelle helicopters No decision has been made on whether to deploy UK Apache helicopters to Libya, the government has said, contradicting claims by a French minister.

French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said on Monday that Britain would follow France in using attack helicopters against Col Gaddafi.

But UK defence minister Nick Harvey contradicted Mr Longuet's claim.

His clarification came after Labour tabled an urgent question about the reported "escalation" of the mission.

Mr Longuet told reporters at an EU meeting on Monday: "The British, who have assets similar to ours, will also commit. The sooner the better is what the British think."

But Mr Harvey told the Commons: "My understanding is that the French have indeed taken a decision to deploy their attack helicopters in Libya.

"I state again for the avoidance of all doubt: no such decision has been taken by the United Kingdom.

'Tactical shift'

"It is an option we are considering and there is absolutely no sense in which it is true to say that we have kept Parliament in the dark about a decision."

The use of helicopters would not represent an escalation of the mission, he insisted, but only a "tactical shift" to improve the ability to strike moving targets more precisely.

BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt said the UK's Apache attack helicopters could deploy from HMS Ocean, the Royal Navy's largest warship.

Experts say the helicopters are able to identity targets quickly, but they are more vulnerable than the strike aircraft.

Nato jets have been targeting Col Gaddafi's military infrastructure, but have been unable to stop the fighting on the ground.

Late on Monday, several massive explosions were heard in the capital, Tripoli, including close to Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound.

View the original article here