UCD WELFARE officer Shane Fitzgerald has described the proposal of Minister for Enterprise and Employment Richard Bruton to reduce unemployment payments to young people as "a case of making all young people equally poor".

According to Fitzgerald, the Minister's suggestions "will not provide any greater incentive for 18 and 19 year olds to enter third level when the levels of financial support his Government provides remain pathetically low". The move, to reduce payments would merely place young people on the dole on the same level as students on inadequate maintenance grants, he said. Students on a maximum maintenance grant receive £42 per week, while their peers in receipt of unemployment assistance receive substantially more, plus rent and fuel allowances.

Fitzgerald also added UCD students' union's voice to calls for a statutory minimum wage, pointing out that students working part time are often engaged in low paid jobs. According to a survey conducted by USI last year, half of all students take part time jobs while in third level education