USI warns of election backlash on fees
THE Government faces a ballot box backlash from students in the European and local elections if they re-introduce fees.
Union of Students in Ireland president Shane Kelly said they were taking a stand and they wanted the Government to know that "we are not to be messed with".
He told the USI annual conference that a voter registration and mobilisation drive among students would be launched in the next fortnight.
"We will be telling all 200,000 members to vote against the Government parties, and that includes the Greens," he said.
"It is only when we demonstrate our ability to deliver our members to the ballot box that we will stop being seen as an easy target," he added.
Mr Kelly said this year had seen an unprecedented attack on students, and Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe's plans to re-introduce third-level fees was a "rather poor attempt to cover up a decade of under-investment in higher education".
He said that, since tuition fees were abolished in 1996, Ireland had witnessed a surge in the numbers entering third-level education.
He said the cost of college in Ireland had been put at €38,000 for a four-year degree, which did not include this year's €600 increase in the so-called registration fee, which brought the total charge to €1,500.
Mr Kelly said Ireland's long- term recovery would need graduates and greater investment in education at all levels.
He called for incentives for post-graduate education to encourage graduates to remain in the country, increase their skill base and prepare to take full advantage when the recession ended.
- Katherine Donnelly
