The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has called on Tánaiste Mary Coughlan to clarify her position on the re-introduction of third-level fees.
USI president Gary Redmond said the union was “gravely concerned” that fees would be re-introduced “covertly” through an increase of the students services charge.
The student services charge, also known as the registration fee, is levied by the higher education institutions to defray the costs of examinations, registration and student services.
The amount is agreed annually by third-level institutions in consultation with the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education.
The charge cannot exceed the cap of €1,500 set by the Government.
The USI has claimed the Government is planning to increase the cap by at least €1,000 for the academic year 2011/2012.
While it is up to each academic institution to set the amount charged, Mr Redmond said funding for universities and colleges was cut to equal the amount charged by the services fee.
“Two years ago, when it went from €900 to €1500, all the universities and ITs saw a cut of €600 per student in their budget," he said. “Certainly the suggestion in the sector is that come budget day the Minister for Finance is going to stand up and allow the universities and ITs to charge €2,500 or €3,000. “
In a statement today, the Department of Education said changes would only be considered “in the course of the estimates process, where an increase is intended to bring the amount contributed by students into line with the costs of the range of students services provided”.
Mr Redmond warned of the impact any increase would have on students and insisted that any increase would be viewed as fees “by the backdoor”.
He said the registration fee was £190 in 1995 and has "crept up" to €1,500. "We would suggest that putting €1,000 on the registration fee is an introduction of fees and is in breach of the Programme for Government," he said.
