摘要：With increasing numbers of young people participating in higher education in Ireland
and a heavy reliance of higher education institutions on State funding, the introduction of an
alternative finance system for Ireland has been muted over the past number of years. However,
no study has been conducted to gauge the potential impact of such measures. In this paper we
utilise a dynamic microsimulation model developed for Ireland to simulate the impact of both an
income contingent loan system (ICL) and a graduate tax system from a fiscal and redistributional
viewpoint and to analyse the repayment length under the former system. Our results suggest that
an ICL system could be more equitable, while the graduate tax system could be a better
alternative from a fiscal viewpoint. The results also illustrate the importance of the interest rate
attached to any future student loan system within Ireland from a fiscal viewpoint
