USI attacks grants ‘scandal’
According to the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), TDs now earn 25 times the amount set aside for each of the 40,000 low-income students in third level education. Official figures suggest the cost of going to college has risen to €7,500 a year.
The average weekly earnings for a Dáil politician, including expenses and allowances, are €2,200. This compares to a basic student maintenance grant of just €86 a week, based on spreading the €3,110 payment over the 36-week college year.
USI education officer Bernadette Farrell said students are being driven to desperation by the Government’s refusal to provide the necessary grants for full-time studying and survival.
“For 40,000 low-income students, the grant worth €86 per week barely stretches to meet the cost of accommodation and that’s before the costs of studying, food and utility bills are factored in,” she said.
“Because of the maintenance grant scandal, tens of thousands of young students are losing their fight against hardship, while thousands more find they are effectively barred from going to college in the first place,” Ms Farrell said.
The basic pay for a TD is €90,770, which rises to €96,560 after 10 years. With expenses and allowances added in the average annual income for a TD tops €114,000. Senators get between €63,539 and €67,593.
Ms Farrell urged all parties represented in the Dáil to urgently address the need for funding fairness.
Figures from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) suggest the cost of going to college has risen to €7,500 a year for a student living away from home.
The USI said one-third of students would be effectively barred from third level education without the maintenance grant, unable to fund the cost of living while studying.
The union’s president Colm Hamrogue claimed the spending priorities of TDs and the Government in particular, were perverse and shocking.
“Based on HEA research, the basic maintenance grant of €3,110 now covers less than half the estimated cost of living for students,” he said.
“The Government must greatly increase the value of the basic grant before low-income students are hit with the registration fee and other soaring expenses next month,” Mr Hamrogue said.
