Around €560,000 in library fees is owed to Ireland’s seven universities and Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), according to documents acquired by the Irish Times. University College Dublin (UCD) is owed €380,000 in unpaid accommodation charges, and Trinity is owed €114,000. These sums accompany €1.3 million in student contribution charges that has not yet been recouped.
While unpaid student contribution charges may be due to lack of means, other failures to pay cannot be explained so lightly. The €3,000 demanded of students is substantial, and many cases slip through the cracks of the Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) criteria for a grant to cover the charge. However, for the 10,000 former students of Maynooth University (MU) who each owe less than €10 in library fines, an inability to pay is most likely not the explanation.
In a statement to the Irish Times, the Irish Universities Association (IUA) emphasised that “any issue which exacerbates the situation is of concern”, the situation being the financial struggles universities have been contending with in recent years. That universities, focused on producing cutting-edge research and propelling gifted students into exciting careers, should be held back by unpaid library fines is laughable. And yet it is likely true.
Library fines and accommodation charges are not levied upon students in the same way as the student contribution charge, which many can legitimately argue they can’t afford. Taking up accommodation on Trinity campus is optional and paying for it is not. But the €114,000 in outstanding charges suggests that some individuals have decided they can have their cake and eat it, at the expense of the university which has most likely given them the degree they will use to lift them into their career.
Universities have struggled substantially due to government cuts, meaning lost funding for student counselling services, college health services and careers resources, among other consequences. Future students do not want to foot the bill with a new loan scheme that will make access to education much more difficult. But wanting a free education does not translate to deserving free everything, and these charges should not remain unpaid.
