Cut in fees ‘nonsense’, third year student says

By Bairbre Holmes, PA

Budget 2026 will largely impact students “negatively”, says Amy Kennedy.

The 20-year-old says she is “glad” the permanent cut of student fees from €3,000 to €2,500 means there is not a risk of fees “randomly increasing back up to three grand”.

But she said it is “nonsense” to label it as a reduction when most students have become “accustomed” to the €2,000 rate of recent years.

She said: “Ultimately it’s 500 quid that I’m now going to have to pay, or that someone in my family is going to have to pay, that we weren’t paying last year.

She pointed out “for many students who are working part time or working in minimum wage jobs, over half of their month’s pay is now going on fees, instead of being able to go on food or on rent”.

One of three children in her family currently in college, the English literature student said she and her older brother have been paying €2,000 in student fees since they started studying and points out for her family: “It’s not just an increase of 500 quid; it’s an increase of one-and-a-half grand.”

Ms Kennedy also works in a cafe to pay her rent and welcomes the increase in the national minimum wage by 65 cents per hour to €14.15 per hour.

She said: “All of the jobs I’ve worked are minimum wage, and where that stands impacts my ability to be in college and also be able to engage in student life in other ways, quite a lot.”

But she thinks it is “appalling” that Ireland is “so far below the living wage”.

A rate of 15.40 euro an hour has been calculated by the Living Wage Technical Group, which is supported by a number of groups and charities.