ABOUT 30 students occupied the headquarters of the Department of Education in Dublin yesterday in a protest over university registration fees.On the eve of the release of Leaving Certificate results, protesters from the Union of Students of Ireland held the sit-in at five offices and called for Education Minister Noel Dempsey to abolish the registration fee.
Union leaders vowed to continue the protest until the Government addressed the cash crisis facing students from working class backgrounds.
“We want to send a clear message to Minister Dempsey over the fees and we are very angry with Fianna Fáil/PD policies towards education,” Rory Hearne, USI Deputy President said.
“We are taking action because we feel the Government has not responded to our demands – we think radical action is needed.
“We see this (registration fees) as a back-door way of introducing fees so the Government doesn’t have to invest in education.”
Union leaders claimed the €670 payment, which was brought in to raise income for student services and registration, will increase by €80 in September – which would represent an 89% increase over two years.
The maintenance grant, on offer to less than a quarter of the student population, will rise by only 2%.
Government staff carried on working at the offices as the protesters waved banners and placards from windows and shouted slogans calling for the minister to address the financial plight of students.
The union has requested a meeting with Mr Dempsey to resolve the issue.
Student leaders from Dublin, Galway, Tralee, and Waterford gathered at the offices and warned the protest was the start of a long-running battle against fees.
Ben Archibald, USI National President said the registration fees deprived students from working class backgrounds of proper access to education.
“The sad fact is that tomorrow, there will be thousands of students with the skills and qualifications to access third level education, but they will lack the funding to do so,” Mr Archibald said.
“A rise in the fee will exacerbate this already difficult situation. The inflation-busting fees increases of the last few years are doing harm to the concept of access to education for all.”
USI claimed in the last five years only 700 people gained access to third level education through the Access Programme. When the scheme began in 1995, fees were €190. They rose to €317 in 1996, and could reach €750 this year.
