Madam, - After five years as a participant in, and observer of, the student union movement, I am convinced that the "free fees" scheme has failed.
Universities continue to be overpopulated by the middle classes to the exclusion of the very section of society the scheme was intended to support. The universities lost a stream of income that has not been effectively replaced by Government.
If the student union movement really wants to fight for the marginalised in society, it should support the reintroduction of third-level fees for those who can afford them, together with a proportionate increase in the grant scheme. Only a minority of students, those in most need, would benefit from such an increase. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT ROONEY, Oristown, Kells, Co Meath.