The Department of Education has rejected claims by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) that the annual capitation charge for third-level students is "fees by the back door".
The new executive of USI yesterday began a two-day national council meeting in Dublin. It aims to make the capitation fee a major issue.
Mr Julian de Stainn, USI's deputy president, said the £278 annual sum was effectively another form of fee. The charge had gone up by 7 per cent, or £18, this year but in previous years the increase had been far more dramatic, he said.
It was introduced in the 199596 academic year by the then minister, Ms Niamh Bhreathnach, a year after fees were abolished, and was supposed to be for clubs, societies and student union services. However, now it was being used for exams and registration, which were academic areas, he said.
The capitation fee, set at £150, rose by £100 in 1997-98 to reach the £278 mark this year. "That is well over any inflation figure and must be seen as fees through the back door," Mr de Stainn insisted.
The Department denied this. "We refute out of hand any such claim," a spokesman said. If a student was paying fees they would be about £2,000, he said, so it was definitely not fees by the back door.
He added that only half of all third-level students paid the charge. Those on student support schemes, including all forms of grant, did not have to pay the fee.
At NUI Galway, students expressed particular concern about the fee. Mr Paddy Jordan, the students' union president, said that in theory the arrangement in Galway was good. The university had promised that all increases in the charge would go to student services.
However, he said the university now charged a "space cost" for the space student services took up, and this had risen dramatically by 40 per cent. He said it appeared that they were putting "a lot of money into the college coffers".
Mr John Gaffney, the university's management accountant, said the charge was for space occupied by student service activities and included the cost of lighting, heat, power and maintenance.
NUI Galway has 8,000 students and with a fee of £278 per student receives more than £2.2 million. Mr Gaffney said they tried to apportion an appropriate amount of that for the maintenance of student service activities. He said the costs were for non-tuition services such as exams and registration.
However, in one college the students' union is happy with its arrangement with the authorities. Carlow Institute of Technology signed an agreement with the union whereby it gets a fixed rate from the college for student services.
Mr Cliff Reid, the student union president, said they had signed a new deal. "This is the first year it operates and it means we get a fixed £36,000 from the college." Mr Reid said it meant that the college and the union were working in partnership and they had a different arrangement to other colleges.
Overall, he believed that the capitation fee was unfair and should be either capped or abolished. "If you're entitled to free education then it should be free with no extra costs," he said.
