An increase in third-level fees this year would be “sickening”, one student told The Irish Times, as the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) called the proposed return to €3,000 annual payments “a cynical and calculated betrayal” by the Government.
For the past three years, a cost-of-living measure has reduced the student contribution of €3,000 by €1,000.
This week, Minister for Higher Education James Lawless suggested that the end of temporary cost-of-living packages would mean that fees payable by students would increase. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there was no funding earmarked at present for avoiding an effective €1,000 increase this year.
Students and their representative bodies have expressed concern over the financial strain this hike in fees would place on those already struggling to fund their studies. Some described spending several hours commuting daily to afford college, while others said they had skipped meals to cut costs.
READ MORE
President of IADT students’ union Lavender-Jane Gartlan feels the potential increase in fees is a “slap in the face” to lower-income students and families.
Gartlan, who graduated from a film design course in 2024, said she doesn’t want to see a student in the same position she found herself in while studying.
“I received a Susi [Student Universal Support Ireland]grant to cover my fees, but still, during my studies, I was homeless twice, sleeping in my friends’ houses and trying to get by, working 25 to 35 hours a week to save up enough money to rent somewhere.”
She said this caused her health to suffer and her grades to drop, often leaving her choosing between food and bus fare.
Last year, she was aware of “about six students” experiencing homelessness, with some living out of their cars.
“We ended up having to set up a network of students that were willing to give up a couch” to those who couldn’t find or afford accommodation, she said.
She believes an increase in fees would be the Government telling students, “we don’t care about you”.
“Where is the Government’s compassion? When did being kind and wanting everyone to be treated equally become an act of such defiance?”
Alex Angland, president of the students’ union in University College Cork (UCCSU), has also seen students “attending lectures hungry due to financial pressures”.
A cost-of-living report published by UCCSU in September found that more than half of students’ college experiences were negatively affected by the costs involved.
He said the fee reduction “has been a significant aid to students these past years, ensuring that a more financially diverse cohort can avail of third-level education.”
University College Cork students’ union believes “the cost of living package should be renewed, Susi should be reformed, and the Government must invest in student accommodation”.
On Monday, the USI branded the move as “regressive” and “a cynical and calculated betrayal of students. The timing is no coincidence – aligning with the July 1st CAO change-of-mind deadline, leadership transitions within student unions, and now, this sudden rollback.”
During the summer months, students’ union officers are involved in handover processes to newly elected staff.
USI president Bryan O’Mahony said the proposed fee increase is “not just cowardly, it’s disgraceful”.
“After years of chronic underinvestment, students continue to pay the price,” said O’Mahony. “Was the fee reduction merely a short-term election stunt? Are we expected to endure the same cycle of pre-election sweeteners followed by post-election reversals?”
Trinity College’s students’ union president, Seán Thim O’Leary, echoed O’Mahoney’s sentiment, saying the announcement of a potential fee increase “was deliberately timed to dodge accountability from student unions, as leadership across the country switches hands”.
Thim O’Leary believes the Government has shown “utter contempt for student welfare at a time when students are being forced into couch surfing, hours-long daily commutes, and homelessness.
“What is needed now from the Government, if they have any intention of showing care towards students, is a return to a policy of fee reduction for the coming academic year, an increase in per capita core funding for higher education and urgent and meaningful reform of Susi.”
Darragh McCusker, a final-year applied psychology student at IADT, said that while his parents help pay his fees, he will still feel the impact of a €1,000 increase.
McCusker drives from Kildare to IADT’s Dún Laoghaire campus every day, which costs him up to €70 in petrol a week. He works full time during the summer and both weekend days during term time to support himself.
He said he’s “not really surprised” that the student contribution fee may return to its original cost.
He believes fees were brought down “coming up to election time” so political parties “look like they’re doing something for students”.
Patrick Flynn also commuted, spending four hours travelling daily by bus to and from home in Nobber, Co Meath, for the duration of his studies in Trinity College Dublin.
Having just completed an undergraduate degree in environmental sciences, Flynn plans to start an online master’s programme at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in September as a means to save money.
He describes the potential increase in third-level fees as “sickening but not surprising”, adding that “it’s very in keeping with what I’ve come to expect from the Government”.
Renting in Dublin was not a financially viable option for Flynn, like many others, but the time spent commuting often came at a personal cost. “I was frozen out of parts of the college experience,” he said, “missing out on character building and fun experiences”.
Flynn worked throughout his summer holidays and on weekends as a teaching assistant at the Centre for Talented Youth Ireland in DCU.
“I couldn’t go without working, but this was an extra pull on already limited time. I really had to stretch myself in the last month of the semester. It was touch and go on whether I’d have any money in my account.”
Given that he was able to avail of a reduction in contribution fees, Flynn anticipates plans to hike fees will place “a very material strain” on students, many of whom he says are “already struggling in precarious positions”.
University of Galway students’ union president Maisie Hall said a fee increase could be the difference between students receiving, or not receiving, a third-level education.
“While we might expect the Government to be out of touch with most aspects of student life at this point, you would hope that they would be aware that the situation is only getting worse.”
She feels “as though a decision has been made on our behalf that the cost-of-living crisis has ended for students. I can guarantee you it has not.”
