TCD students union is to take legal action against the university authorities over compensation claims by students resident in college accommodation. The union is taking the action on behalf of students in Cunningham House, Trinity Hall Dartry, who, it claims, have been disturbed by repair work throughout their first term in the residences. It says students were inconvenienced for 11 weeks, with some rooms unusable or without running water for a number of days.
Residents pay up to £656 for a single room in Trinity Hall from October to January, while a twin room costs almost £500 per person for the same period.
TCD's accommodation officer Tony Dempsey, says the renovation work on Trinity Hall was "necessary to make the buildings habitable. There was ingress of water through the roof and some of the windows."
But students' union welfare officer Dave Johnson criticised the timing of the work, pointing out that the decision to renovate Trinity Hall was taken in June 1996. "I can't understand why the work was not undertaken in June instead of October when the students are back" he says, although he noted that Trinity Hall is rented out as tourist accommodation during the summer.
Dempsey says the college had made "substantial" compensation payments to residents "but they didn't quite meet the demands put forward". Residents had been seeking a minimum of four weeks' rent in compensation, but the college decided on a payment of £120 or just over three weeks' rent. Cheques were given to residents for this amount but, according to the students' union, residents were not informed of the nature of the payment and a number thought it was a refund of deposit money. The majority of Cunningham Hall residents have now given permission for legal action to be taken on their behalf and similar action by other Trinity Hall residents may follow.
Meanwhile, the union is also concerned about pharmaceutical students in TCD, who face course fees of £1,300 this year following a decision by the Department of Education to dispute its eligibility for free fees. The 50 pharmaceutical technician diploma students, who paid fees of only £80 last year, have been told by the HEA that their course is, in fact, only a one year course and is not therefore eligible for free fees.
A spokesman for the HEA said it had been told by the Department of Education that the course was not to be regarded as a two year course.
The students are currently in their second year of a diploma course which is listed in TCD's college calendar as a two year course. The course divides into one year of studies organised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, a six month work placement and six months of lectures in TCD. The students register with TCD and are, according to TCD students' union, technically Trinity students.
"The union's position is that these students were told by college that it is a two year course," says Dave Johnson. "They accepted the course and registered for it on that basis. They're Trinity students and they deserve fee remission."
The spokesman said the Department was examining the situation with regard to the current intake of students, so there may yet be hope of a satisfactory and sympathetic resolution for the students involved.
