Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) council has voted in favour of a motion which will see the union’s president establish a petition calling for the reduction of the student contribution charge.
The petition will be addressed to the Provost and the Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris. The motion also mandates TCDSU to lobby Dublin TDs for a reduction in the student contribution charge.
The motion carried with 94 per cent of the vote.
Speaking at Council this evening, Dillon Broaders, who proposed the motion, said that the “fundamental principles of the motion are the same as the last council”.
“It is immoral for College and the government to be charging the same contribution fee this year”, he said, adding that “COVID is no excuse to exploit students”.
BESS Convenor Shore Oluborode also spoke in favour of the motion, saying that “because of the pandemic, the services provided by the college are not at the level they would normally be”.
TCDSU President Eoin Hand also spoke in favour of the motion, saying it was “fantastic” and had “real, specified and close-to-home principles” as well as a “national focus.”
This motion was initially proposed at the first council of the year by Broaders, a second-year physical sciences class representative and seconded by Ruaidhrí Campion, a second-year theoretical physics class representative. However, the motion was pushed to second council to allow changes to be made to the wording of the motion.
The initial motion called on the union to adopt a formal stance in favour of lowering College fees for this year and also called on the president to establish a petition.
The initial motion also mentioned the reduced access for students to campus and facilities, and noted that these restrictions had not led to a decrease in College fees.
However, the motion brought forward today instead mentioned the “worsening financial situation” experienced by many students due to COVID-19 and noted the ongoing Union of Students in Ireland (USI) campaign to reduce the student contribution charge.
The new motion also mentioned that the union “must represent its members concerns at a local level” and noted that “the Irish Government sets the student contribution charge but the College reserves its right to alter its scale of charges at any time”.
Earlier this year, USI President Lorna Fitzpatrick criticised the government for giving colleges the freedom to charge students with registration fees of up to €3,000.
Speaking to The University Times, USI President Lorna Fitzpatrick said that “it was as if they were trying to push the decision back to the institutions, but really the government needs to show leadership, rather than leaving that up to the institutions”.
