“I will be struggling to find the extra €2,000,” one parent told The Irish Times, worried about the prospect of footing an increase in third-level fees next year.
Third-level fees were reduced to €2,000 as a once-off cost-of-living measure three years ago, and this was rolled over for two further years.
Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless recently said on RTÉ radio that without a cost-of-living package in the budget, fees would have to increase again to €3,000 “as things stand”.
Ahead of an organised protest against the proposed return to annual student contributions of €3,000, which took place outside Leinster House on Tuesday evening, parent Frances Cody shared her concerns.
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Having budgeted for fees amounting to €2,000 per child this September, Ms Cody says the rise will be a “double whammy” for her family who have two children in higher education.
“The reduction to college fees has been a blessing and we now rely on this. If the college fees return to €3,000 a year I will be struggling to find the extra €2,000 I will need next year and a further €1,000 the year after. I can’t just magically come up with this money.”
Ms Cody said there is an “additional strain” placed on families like her own who experience an “overlap” in funding college expenses. For many, this increase in student fees will represent more than €1,000, with this figure doubling or even tripling for some.
“Every penny that comes into this household is accounted for,” she says, adding that “there is no nest egg” to cover car breakdowns, doctors’ bills, or other unexpected additional expenses.
“When my car broke down a month ago I had to pay for it with a Visa card that I have no way of clearing.”
Her daughters attend UCD, where they are studying medicine and actuarial science. Both have commuted from their home in Redcross, Co Wicklow, through college – a journey which takes them more than an hour and a half each way. This means leaving at 5.30am “to beat traffic”.
Ms Cody is a teacher, and her husband works “seven days a week” as a taxi driver to fund their eldest daughter’s accommodation near UCD. Her daughter has recently started renting so she can attend hospital placements, after spending the first four years of her medicine degree commuting.
A reduction in college fees over the last three years is “the one concession from the Government that my family benefits from,” Ms Cody says.
Education can come at a personal cost to parents and children alike, with financial pressure negatively impacting mental and physical health.
“My husband has health issues associated with stress and spending long days in a vehicle.” He had a heart attack aged 45. “And my eldest worries about every penny she spends.”
Speaking at Tuesday’s protest, Bryan O’Mahony, president of Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ), said the €1,000 reduction in student contribution fees “was not just a relief, it was not just a gift, it was a lifeline for students”.
He called the fees-increase decision “calculated” and “a betrayal by our Government”.
“We are not here today for handouts. We are not here for gifts. We are here for fairness. We are here for basic respects.”
Seán Thim O’Leary, president of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, said the proposed increase in fees “has come out of nowhere”.
“It’s come at a time when so many students are already weighing up whether or not they can continue in higher education.”
Aaron Duke, a history and politics student at University College Dublin, feels it is “naive” to be surprised about the potential fee increase.
“It was kind of very obvious that this was going to be the case. They’re very unwilling to spend money on the things that actually matters to working people or people who are struggling with the cost of living, which includes a high majority of students.”
Cian McGrath, students’ union president at Munster Technological University’s Kerry campus, said: “it’s an absolute disgrace that they would even think about adding a thousand euro on for us to pay.”
He said that the price of being a student in Kerry has “just gone through the roof”.
“That’s only in Kerry, you can imagine what it’s like in Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Galway, it must be ridiculous elsewhere in the country if things are so bad in Kerry.”
Hazen E Griffin, campaigns and engagement officer at University College Dublin students’ union, called the potential increase “shameful”.
“We have tons of students who might not be able to afford this and it’s deeply damaging, especially in a cost-of-living crisis.”
