Fiona Gribben | Contributing Writer
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has welcomed the Government’s decision not to cut the student maintenance grant any further next year. The decision was outlined in Budget 2014, announced earlier today by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin.
USI President Joe O’Connor said:
“This budget marks a turning point. After four cuts to the maintenance grant in four consecutive budgets, the Government has accepted that struggling students and families can take no more.”
“Throughout our campaign we have highlighted the fact that education is a public investment, not public spending,” he continued. “The maintenance grant, meagre as it is, allows those who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to attend third-level, to earn a degree, to have improved career prospects and contribute to our economic recovery.”
Further news that the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) has been retained and enhanced is “an encouraging sign that the government is listening to what people have been pressing for, education that gets people back to work,” said O’Connor.
Moreover, the new budget reconfirms that the student contribution charge for third-level institutions will increase by €250 to €2,750 next year. However O’Connor has vowed to “continue to campaign for this fee to be bench-marked against economic recovery and reduced to pre-crisis levels.”
Vulnerable young people who are not in third-level education have faced a hit as there is to be a lower dole rate of €100 per week for under-25’s; critics of the government have labelled this a policy of forced emigration. Furthermore, the much-discussed Youth Guarantee has been granted €14 million in the budget, widely regarded as being insufficient to provide work for the 53,800 officially unemployed youths in Ireland.
Elsewhere in the budget, NAMA is to invest €2 billion for the purchase of commercial property and fund the construction of 4500 homes; however O’Connor has pointed out that the student accommodation crisis in Dublin and other areas such as Maynooth should also be addressed as part of NAMA developments.
Excise duties faced a predicted increase: a packet of twenty cigarettes and a pint of beer or cider will go up by 10 cent while a bottle of wine will increase by 50 cent. However there will be no increase in excise duties on petrol, heating, oil or gas.
At the end of his speech Minister Noonan said the country was “well along the recovery path and it is time for us as a nation to look forward to the future.” However opponents have described the budget as anti-elderly, anti-women and anti-young people.
Photo Credits: Benedict Shegog
