Louth parents feel they're “paying for everything, getting nothing” amid college fee uncertainty

Parents of third level students who don’t know whether they will have to fork out €2,000 or €3,000 to send their teens to college in September feel like "they’re paying for everything and getting nothing," Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has told the Dáil.

In a debate about student fees, the Sinn Féin deputy said the issue had been running for ten days and people still didn’t know what they would have to pay. He said that if TDs had supported his party’s motion on the issue, then students would be paying €1,500.

Deputy Ó Murchú spoke about a Dundalk family he had met the previous day. He said: "I was in a house yesterday where the family was 100% sure they would be paying a maximum of €2,000. 

"They have one more kid to go through college. It is a family I have called to many times and with which I have had a huge number of interactions. 

"This, however, was the first time I had a real political discussion with the family where it got hot and heavy. As they see it, they pay for everything and get nothing. That is how an awful lot of people feel at this point in time."

He said the accommodation crisis that students also face "will not be improved by the rent pressure zone legislation proposed by this government."

And he pressed the government on the issue of the funding problems for apprenticeships and courses provided in the adult education sphere.

He said: "Deputy David Cullinane and I had a debate with the minister about the huge hole relating to ETBs at this time. 

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"Adult educators are under pressure and local training initiatives are at risk of being cut. 

"There is a severe worry that while the minister says no apprenticeships will be cancelled, they are going to be postponed, which will particularly impact trades. 

"We need clarity around all of this. First and foremost, it is not okay that students will be paying more than €2,000 next year."