Approximately 10,000 students from across Ireland have gathered today outside Dail Eireann in a major protest against Government plans to re-introduce college fees for those with parents whose incomes exceed a set amount ( believed to be in the region of €40,000 ).
The garda dog unit and gardaí on horseback patrolled the area alongside 80 gardaí who stood at the main gates of Leinster House on Kildare Street.The Union of Students of Ireland told demonstrators it would continue to fight the reintroduction of third level fees. So far, the Government has raised the registration fee for students from €900 to €1500 but there is widespread dismay at the proposed plan to charge students the full tuition costs of nearly €7000.
Student Protests, Dublin :
USI’s David Curran said students all over Ireland would organise and ensure that the campaign remained high on the political agenda. Many students feel that the proposed legislation is another attack on the middle income earners to whom it is perceived are able to “afford college” and is merely another handicap which will serve to increase student debt.
The USI has stated that despite the good intentions of the Department of Educations’ drive to ensure more lower income families are able to afford to send their children to College, the taxation of the middle income earners in this way does not help to serve the intended purpose of increased opportunity. USI’s David Curran states that the new propsals will merely “encourage” those who may have previously gone to college that in fact, their futures’ lie elsewhere. Already, figures show that a four year degree in Ireland will cost a student somewhere in the region of €30,000 – €40,000 when all costs have been factored in. Rent costs in Dublin are currently one of the highest in Europe and the cost of living equally expensive.
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