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A €250 INCREASE in the annual college registration fee will have a serious impact on families across the country, a students’ union has warned.
Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin confirmed this afternoon that the third level student contribution would rise by €250, to a maximum of €2,250. He said that this measure would raise an additional €18.5million for the State.
Howlin also announced a two per cent reduction in funding to colleges, which he said would save €23.6million in expenditure. Meanwhile, student grants will be cut by around three per cent.
The announcement came as it was also confirmed that all maintenance grants would be axed for new postgraduate students.
However, the Union of Students in Ireland said that the burden of the fee increase would fall largely not on students themselves, but on families across Ireland who are already suffering from other Budget measures.
USI president Gary Redmond told TheJournal.ie: “The people paying for this increase are the same people who will be paying for other measures. It’s not all about the students, it’s about their families.” He continued:
The Labour Party and Fine Gael committed to no increase in student fees before the general election. This is simply not good enough. The Government need to hang their heads in shame, and come out and apologise to the people they lied to.
Speaking about the reduction in student grants, Redmond said those on the lowest grant rate were currently receiving in the region of just €1 a day. “They have to buy food with that, they have to buy books,” he said. “People expect figures like this from Concern.”
He said the Budget measures would mean no additional money for colleges, as direct funding has been cut while student fees are increased.
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thats only, the price of 60 pints
USI found out on their scaremongering of €5,000 fees. Completely useless organisation!
to say the usi is useless is disgraceful. who else has mobilised thousands of people trying to protect their access to education. im sure if you had a chance to attend 3rd level you would see the massive difference between 5000 and 2250.
the comments on this are so f@@king annoying!! Dont comment on it if its not affecting you go find the story of the cuts that do and comment on them. Education is to better our lives and not be stuck on the dole forever living on Feck all UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It costs enough as it so now the youngsters that are in Leaving Cert yr are left SCREWED unless mammy and daddy have high end jobs and how did they get high end jobs FROM EDUCATION…. id rather see tax put to good use rather than being put into helping out the f**king banks!!
I for one will try to bear in mind that you might get annoyed by my comments, however I feel as a citizen and taxpayer i have as much right as you to comment on any subject I see fit to. education definitly improves lives, as do fresh vegatables, I have issues with either being paid for by me simply beacuse others feel they should get them totally free
Ironic stance Martin, that is if you have ever participated in primary, secondary and/or third level education. You know you sound a bit entitled.
What gives you the right to avail of free education and then turn around and say that others cannot do the same. Do you think your tax’s will be lowered after the increase in fees? Obviously you have no idea of where they are actually going now.
Dont give me the private education crap either as they recieve the same level of funding as the public educators. You just come off as a leech so far, someone who likes to eat his slice of the pie and throw the rest on the floor.
Jumpthecat said earlier that Ireland had become a nation of scroungers, I guess now I agree.
In fairness John your not helping your case at all. Take a deep breath….
less of the scum young man
Martin are you just sitting on your arse all day waiting for stories about students to appear? Get a life
Nah, i just sit on my arse all day replying to you pet, will be in tenerife next week, but will try to keep in touch.
I love your profound contributions all the same
Ah I love a bit of humour every now and then……good man!
you’re certainly on the right forum, fre education for everyone, somebody has a a sense of humour
Ah now it not free, but considering everyone is getting hit, I’m afraid the students will just have to continue to contribute like every one else. So in general I agree with you Martin.
A quality education system is a pre- requisite of a successful economy as well as a civilised society. My generation and those twenty years younger than me had the benfits of free university and it seems that we are pulling up the trapdoor on todays generation.
To paraphrase Bill Morris, former TUC president, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
i dont think anybody is advocating doing away with education, we just need to be realistic in how it is paid for
Also in reply to Martin, the more people that are aided in gaining the highest qualifications possible, the higher taxes they will pay in the future. Free fees for a student for three years is about 18 thousand euro, if that person gets a good job from their degree they will pay many multiples of that in their lifetime. Where as people who cant afford to go to university get menial jobs and pay much lower taxes (through no fault of their own)
All very laudable, except for the glaringly obvious fact that not alone are we broke but we owe a heap.
if somebody could come up with a realistic alternative, bring it on
@martin – a realistic alternative? How about stopping the bailing out of banks and burning bond holders? That seems reasonable enough to me at this dire period of time.
there is some merit to your suggestion. But one reality is that on a yearly basis we are taking in 20 billion less than we are spending, which necessitates borrowing, i think that might become problematic if we stop repaying our existing loans. in fact as it is we can only borrow from the EU/Imf, and they dont seem delirious about burning bondholders, bailing out banks is even more problematic in that sadly enough we need banks.
So they are cutting third level education spending by €23.6million whilst raising €18.5million by adding €250/year to registration fee. So net result is that third level will be down by €5.1m next year!
Top marks
You dont understand, if two people want the an orange then the best compromise would be an apple. It has nothing to do with the fact that they are lying scum. It’s not like they have a contract with you, that’s reserved for the people who bet your money.
Instead you gave them a mandate, your signature for contracts with terrorists and criminals(the people they are accountable to).
A copy and paste job, anything they said before was just foreplay. Now its time for them to do whatever they feel like and make you feel sick in the process.
I take it your a drama student?
The ravings of a mad man.
Why don’t you work in a petrol station like the polish workers do to pay your way through college?? The though of hand outs sets a bad precedent.
Ireland’s become a nation of scroungers.
I’m unsure what you’re on about in your rant.
@Jumpthecat – I never recieved a grant, I worked my way through college until I lost my job. What the hell did you do to pay for college? If your unsure about what I am on about then you obviously havent contributed your tax’s towards bailing out the scrounging banks, you know the ones that should be bankrupt. I would prefer my tax goes towards students who can’t afford college than bankers which gave themselves bonuses after they bet and lost their account holders money.
Just wondering what a ‘new’ postgraduate student is? I presume it is 2012 incoming students…I am a postgrad and haven’t heard a thing about the maintenance grant I am due yet.
What a ridiculous move, cutting postgraduate grants – will Mr. Quinn ever learn? Postgraduate research is essential to the intellectual and scientific development of Ireland as a credible and progressive nation, particularly in this highly-competitive age. It seems as though the government is stabbing itself in the back with this incomprehensible action.
Its economic folly and that’s all the government knows.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2011/1116/1224307633569.html
I’m not against fees in general and 2000 x3 is quite a reasonable amount. Some American friends of mine pay 50,000$ per year for fees alone. The negatives are obvious but they are some of the most dedicated and well able students around. Most of my Irish friends from school either dropped out or repeated, largely due to a lack of motivation and direction and were hit with around 5000 fees when they decided to return. From my experience, I reckon an increase in fees will do good for students however as stated before I do not support it in this context. They’re not doing it because it makes sense, they’re doing it to pay off bankers. More bullshit from a system that keeps the poor poor and the rich rich.
ok Martin
lovely
if somebody decides to remain a student all their lives am i expected to help fund it?
This is devastating news for families who are already stretched by ‘registration’ fees — the second highest in Europe!
Education is a right, not a preserve of the privileged elite.
Keep stirring it up there Martin. Very enjoyable.
no worries, i love anonymous giraffes
are the occupiers still occupying
I don’t see how the government expects the economy to grow when the only thing Ireland has going for it when attracting large M.N.C’s is a highly skilled workforce, with putting up fees and cutting grants, how do they expect us to recover when the conveyor belt of highly qualified people will become gradually start to deplete as they cannot afford to pay their way through college
have your say