[…]at €2,250. Both his parents are working, his mother has three jobs, and yet they still can’t gather the €5,000 necessary to send both Patrick and his sister to college this September. His argument is simple and it’s one that USI has echoed over the years: If the Government makes third level education financially prohibitive to Leaving Cert students then less of them will go to college and Ireland’s workforce will become unskilled, uneducated and uncompetitive. Unemployment will increase and Ireland will, as a society, regress. Essentially, cutting investment in education and making it more difficult to attain a third […]
[…]at 7%. Data suggests that the purity or potency of most illicit substances is increasing and that the market for substances is becoming more varied and accessible. This phase of the campaign focuses on two specific drugs MMDA (ecstasy) and Ketamine (K); two harm reduction posters have been designed to give harm reduction advice and information on accessing support. “USI is delighted to be working closely with the HSE and Drugs.ie on this harm reduction campaign.” Annie Hoey, USI President, said. “Ongoing use of a variety of substances by young people and students has rightly attracted attention and concern due […]
[…]Statement I thank the committee and the Chair for the invitation to participate today. I am the vice president for postgraduate affairs at the Union of Students in Ireland, which is the representative body of students for third level education in Ireland. The research and innovation Bill is being discussed at a time when 50% of the Irish academic workforce is on casualised contracts. Postgraduate researchers have no working rights or living wage, and our expenditure on research and development is among the lowest. Furthermore, poor international research mobility, the highest postgraduate fees in the EU, funding gaps and lack […]
[…]alcohol consumption in Ireland doubled between 1970 and 2003, one the largest increases in the world during that period (Byrne, 2010). Congress recognises: Though consumption has fallen slightly since 2003, Irish consumption at 13.4 litres of pure alcohol per person is the second highest in the OECD (Mongan, 2007). Congress notes with concern: That the increase in alcohol consumption has caused a corresponding increase in alcohol related harms in Irish society, including alcohol related accidents and illnesses, alcohol related crime, alcohol related domestic abuse and alcohol related absences from work (Hope, 2008). Congress understands: That the Department of Health (RoI) […]
