69% hike in college levy 'last straw'

LORRAINE GALVIN and her sisters, Michelle, 19, and Claire, 24, will feel the record hike in college registration fees a lot harder than most.

The three sisters are at third level and are heavily dependent on their parents, Michael and Mary, to finance their college costs. Their father is a retired garda sergeant in Wexford town and their mother is a nurse but can’t work at the moment because of ill-health.

They reacted angrily to Noel Dempsey’s decision to increase the student services levy payable by students by 69%. The levy to register at college now stands at 670, compared to 190 in 1996.