鈥淗e is not the minister [for higher education] any more,鈥 one senior Fianna F谩il source said.
Mr Harris outlined a number of budget priorities, including measures to reduce the cost of education, at a private Fine Gael meeting this week.
While the T谩naiste told party colleagues that no decision on third-level fees has been made yet, he outlined that if a further reduction is rolled out it would apply to the second installment of fees, which would be due early in the new year.
However, higher education minister James Lawless has already publicly claimed that universal fee cuts are 鈥渘ot fair or proportionate鈥 and would take hundreds of millions from universities and colleges.
The Fianna F谩il minister previously said universal cuts to the student contribution fee 鈥渕ay not be the best use of public monies鈥.
One Fianna F谩il source suggested that Mr Harris may be 鈥渟etting a trap鈥 for the current minister, as previous cuts to student fees came out of a cost-of-living pot which will not be available as part of this autumn鈥檚 budget. The source said:
There is no cost-of-living package this year, so he might even be setting him [Mr Lawless] up to fail.
The student contribution was cut by 鈧1,000 on a temporary basis as part of once-off measures to help with the cost of living over the last three budgets. This cost just under 鈧100m each year.
鈥淭he mood music coming out of both parties is very different,鈥 one source added when asked about the approach to third-level measures.
Another senior source sarcastically remarked:
It鈥檚 not like the T谩naiste to be flying kites around.
While a cut to fees would be politically popular, a senior Fianna F谩il source warned that its universal nature would mean even the wealthiest students would benefit.
It is understood that Mr Lawless wants to focus on spending his department鈥檚 allocated money on targeted supports, such as simplifying the grants system and widening it out to more families who are under the most financial strain.
As an alternative to a universal cut to fees, the main priority for Mr Lawless will be reducing the cost of books, laptops, student accommodation, and travel for those in third-level education.
However, countering this, a Fine Gael senior minister claimed that Mr Lawless should 鈥渞ead the programme for government鈥 which commits to continuing to reduce the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government to ease the financial burden on students and families.