The Government has hinted it is unlikely to cut third-level fees further. 

Last week, Higher Education Minister James Lawless said further reductions “may not be the best use of public monies”.

The announcement is something of a U-turn for the Government, given Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said fees should be “phased out in the coming years” during the election. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Union of Students in Ireland President Chris Clifford described it as “absolutely shocking”. 

“Last year, our expectation was that the €1,000 reduction in the contribution was going to remain and it was going to be permanent,” he said. 

“It feels like we’re going backwards, to be honest.” 

A graduation ceremony. Image: Ray Warren NYC / Alamy. 11 May 2011

Minister Lawless said the money spent on cutting fees would be much better spent on student accommodation or establishing new courses. 

In response, Mr Clifford said the USI supports further investment in both those things. 

“We want to see investment when it comes to accommodation and course expansion, of course,” he said. 

“That’s something that we always welcome; but when we’ve had discussions previously, we were under the impression that this was going to be a long-term reduction with the hope of free education at some point.”

Funding

When it was put to him that not everyone attends third-level education and therefore it is reasonable to ask students to make a contribution, Mr Clifford said he “understands the concerns” of taxpayers. 

“The Government needs to look at funding the system,” he said. 

“Ireland is at the bottom of the 30 countries in a report by the OECD in funding education. 

“Look, there’s money there; there’s a €65 billion surplus, the Apple money taxation is there as well. 

“These are avenues that we could look at exploring as well.” 

He added that many students are struggling financially because of the housing crisis. 

“Sometimes students can be exploited,” he said. 

“There is the Residential Tenancies Bill where students are encouraged to pay up to two-months rent at a very maximum.

“Currently, we see accommodation [owners] are exploiting this; they’re getting charged for the full year.”

The Programme for Government included a promise to help third-level institutions “access capital funding for initiatives including student accommodation.”

You can listen back to the full interview here:

Main image: Trinity College. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images.