This week, civil-society organisations and individuals were invited to discuss the Scheme of the Gender Recognition Bill, 2013, with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection.

The Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, said he will protect "as best he can" frontline services in schools and colleges from Budget cuts.

October

The president of Cork Institute of Technology says the standards needed to become a technological university are too focused on research and not enough on meeting the needs of industry and the regions.

The Union of Students in Ireland is launching its national protest against the re-introduction of college fees today.

Students are calling on the Government to spend more on third-level education rather than reintroduce college fees in order to fund the sector.

THE Green Party is likely to concede to increases of up to €1,000 in student service charges next year, but is insisting that class sizes in schools cannot be increased.

Students from around the country are making their way to Dublin this morning for a major protest against any increase to university fees.

Rights groups rounded on the Catholic Church today after Bishops called for TDs to be allowed a free vote on new civil partnership laws.

STUDENTS have reacted angrily to the call by University College Cork’s president for a hike in the €1,500 registration fee in the upcoming budget.

THE case for reintroducing some form of college fees could be bolstered by latest graduate employment figures showing those with a third-level degree are more likely to be working and to be higher paid.

ULSTER Bank chiefs were left red-faced yesterday after it emerged the bank had unwittingly promoted an event in which students were offered free entry to a strip show to be held in a bar in Tallaght.

Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe has set September 15 as the deadline for his ministerial colleagues to give their views on his proposals for re-introducing third-level fees.

AN Bord Snip Nua recommends a range of measures to cut 2,000 jobs and save €271 million a year on third-level education.

Student unions from around the country are planning a protest outside the Dáil today as part of their ongoing campaign against the re-introduction of third-level fees.

Around 20 students are occupying the Department of Finance offices in Dublin today in protest at cutbacks announced in last week's Budget.

THE brakes were put on stringent proposals to restrict learner drivers on Irish roads yesterday after some of the radical road safety plans were deemed unworkable.

A FINE GAEL proposal for a graduate tax would not be supported by the Labour party or third-level students, but Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe has welcomed it as a constructive contribution to the debate on higher education funding.

LEADING educationalists from the US and Britain will be among experts debating the future of higher education in Ireland in a conference this week at Waterford Institute of Technology.

Thousands of students are expected to take to the streets of Dublin today to protest against the possible reintroduction of third-level tuition fees.

Students with learning disabilities entering third level education may have to pay for their own psychological assessments, it was claimed today.

The Government's tough new laws on provisional driving licences have come under further criticism - this time from the Union of Students in Ireland.

Opposition politicians today joined with around 200 student protestors to demand the immediate introduction of proposed laws to reform the grants system.

SOARING rents and below-inflation grant increases may force college students to drop out of their courses in the coming months, it was claimed last night.

THE Government should fast-track legislation to give all third-level graduates a vote in Seanad elections, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) said last night.

Housing organisation Threshold has warned students looking for accommodation to beware of rogue landlords who let sub-standard property.

THOUSANDS of apprentices are expected to protest at the country’s institutes of technology today over charges being levied for studying there.

STUDENTS issued a strong warning to the Government on college registration fees in the first of a series of regional protests yesterday.

The Union of Students in Ireland is planning to erect a temporary village in Dublin city centre today to highlight the failure of many landlords to comply with tenancy laws.

THE rift in the Government over the return of third-level fees deepened yesterday as Tánaiste Mary Harney and Minister for Education Noel Dempsey stuck hard to their conflicting stances.

The Union of Students in Ireland is to hold a press conference later today to outline its opposition to Fianna Fail's apparent plans to re-introduce college fees.

The Tanaiste, Mary Harney, has reiterated the Government's intention to "bring clarity" to the issue of third-level fees before the Leaving Cert exams get underway next month.

Students are demanding clarification on today's announcement that third level fees will return for the next college year.

Students hope speaking to TDs one to one about the re-introduction of third level fees will win them over to their side of the arguement.

The Union of Students in Ireland is warning that the northwest is the region that will suffer most if college fees are re-introduced.

The Union of Students in Ireland has mounted a demonstration outside the Department of the Environment in Dublin to protest at the cost of rented accommodation.

The Union of Students in Ireland has organised a demonstration in Dublin city centre today to protest against the Government's decision to increase third-level registration fees by 69%.

The Union of Students in Ireland is holding a protest outside the Dept of Education in Dublin today over the accommodation crisis facing students returning to university in a few weeks' time.

A new survey published has found that 94% of students believe new races, cultures and religions are good for Irish society.