[…]of Students in Ireland has welcomed the allocation of €36.5 million to the third level sector in the Budget but has emphasised that the funding is insufficient by over €100 million. The union recommended spending of €140million in their pre-budget submission to reduce registration fees and increase student support. The Budget allocated €4 million to reinstate maintenance grants from September 2017 for the most disadvantaged postgraduate students. USI welcomed the reintroduction of postgraduate grants but emphasised that it would only benefit 1,100 students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, and further investment would be needed. The union also welcomed the increase in […]
[…]the dole costs the State twice as much as a student on the grant. At a pre-budget briefing in Dublin today, USI President Joe O’Connor will show TDs that a cut to the student maintenance grant is not just unfair, but also counter-productive and expensive. The average grant payment is €84 per week, far lower than the €188 threshold of decency paid to social welfare recipients. The average grant recipient costs the state €3,276 per year. A young person (under-25) on an already reduced dole will receive an average of €7,320 in Social Welfare payments. According to a recent study […]
[…]testing for grants and replacing grant payments with loans will disproportionately affect those in rural backgrounds and farmers. Students from rural and agricultural backgrounds already face higher costs than those who are from urban areas, especially with expenses like accommodation and transportation.” Commenting on the proposals IFA Farm Business Chairman Tom Doyle said, “The farming community would not tolerate any changes which would result in children from low income farm families being excluded from third level grants.” There are currently 56 3rd level agricultural courses of offer, covering a range of cutting-edge contemporary technologies and approaches to modern farming in […]
A Bill to protect student renters for the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic will be tabled in the Dáil today (Thursday) on the back of a campaign led by the Union of Students in Ireland. Sinn Fein will table the Bill, which will be signed by 56 opposition TDs, including all TDs from Sinn Fein, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, Solidarity-People Before Profit and the Independent Group. The Residential Tenancies (Student Rents and Other Protections) (Covid-19) Act 2021 would force accommodation providers to return prepaid rents to students who cannot live in the accommodation due to public health restrictions or […]
