Foreign students studying at Irish universities have for the first time raised serious concerns about high tuition fees.
The non-EU students, some of whom pay up to €20,000 a year, have written to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, about the matter and are planning a national campaign. The students are also planning to contact their embassies in the State.
Irish colleges have been aggressively recruiting non-EU students over the last five years, partly because they provide such a high fee income, compared to Irish students.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has called on the Department of Education to investigate why the fees are so high. The president of the USI, Mr Colm Jordan, said: "We hope this does not mean we are becoming Ireland of the rip-offs, rather than Ireland of the welcomes".
Because places for EU students are subsidised by the Government, non-EU students have always paid higher fees.
However, recent increases have angered the students, particularly those in UCC and Trinity College. The students have accused the colleges of charging exorbitant fees and not justifying the increases.
A letter to the Taoiseach and Mr Dempsey, from a group of UCC medical and dentistry students, and which has been obtained by The Irish Times, expresses serious misgivings about the situation.
"The fees for the medical and dental students rose from the current €18,670 to €20,316 for the next academic year (2002-2003). The fees for medical and dental students from outside EU comes to more than the average disposable income of people in Ireland. It is obviously not a small amount. However, unlike universities in Britain and America, the National University of Ireland has not introduced scholarships or a loans system for college fees".
"The fee rise for this year is calculated as 8.8 per cent, which exceeds even the Irish inflation rate (4.25 per cent). Since the fees for the medical and dental students are a substantial amount, an additional 8.8 per cent is €1,646, which is not easily earned by full-time students," the letter states.
The students in the letter call on the Taoiseach and Mr Dempsey to make sure annual fee increases are kept below 5 per cent. The letter also says non-EU students should be allowed to get scholarships and loans to assist with college fees.
"We, the foreign medical and dental students, hope to be guaranteed decent study conditions without being stressed and worried about rising fees," it says.
Similar issues have also arisen at Trinity College. Ms Antra Bhargava, international student officer of the college's student union, said that although non-EU students paid the highest fees, they were not provided in some colleges with the range of services available to other students. Students from outside the EU had no scholarships, no option to pay fees in two instalments, no provision made for them in college hardships funds, no college accommodation for them in first year, no meal assistance, and no English-language facilitators or other special tutors.
The colleges have defended themselves against accusations of charging exorbitant fees. The deputy treasurer of Trinity College, Mr Ian Matthews, said recently that: "The criteria laid down by the Higher Education Authority state that no non-EU student can be accepted at the expense of an EU student. Furthermore, non-EU students are not subsidised by the State. Therefore the college must take in sufficient fees to cover the total cost of the non-EU student to the college".