Embargo on hiring staff forces college to close gym
Saturday October 24 2009
A gym and swimming pool at one of the country's biggest educational institutions have been closed because of the public service jobs' embargo.
The Dublin Institute of Technology said last night that it had the money to pay for the staff, but because of the moratorium on filling vacant posts, it was unable to appoint staff to a number of vacancies.
The money comes from student registration charges, which went up from €900 to €1,500 this year. The students' union said that counselling services were also curtailed because of the embargo and that science classes had been cancelled because lab technicians were not available.
The chief executive of the Higher Education Authority Tom Boland said that the sector could not be exempt from economics. But he was hopeful that discussions with the Department of Finance and the Department of Education would give higher education institutions greater flexibility in deciding staff allocations.
Students from UCD yesterday occupied the Wicklow Co Council offices in protest against delays in processing the applications.
UCD students' union president Gary Redmond, who is from Arklow, Co Wicklow, said that the term started two months ago and the county's students were still waiting for their grant. "Our offices have been inundated with students who are unable to pay rents and bills. One student didn't even have any money to pay for food," he said.
However, later he said the occupation had led to the first batch of cheques being posted yesterday. Additional grant cheques will be posted as soon as they become available.
- John Walshe
Irish Independent
