Sir, - In recent weeks The Irish Times has given prominent coverage to the issue of undergraduate students who study in UK universities. Following the decision by the British government to introduce university tuition fees, the Union of Students in Ireland has pledged to lobby our own Government to pay these fees, while the Department of Education has said that it is considering the matter.
Your readers may be surprised to hear that a significant number of young people studying here in Ireland are still required to pay university fees, namely post-graduate students. In its Policy Document on Science, Technology and Innovation, Fianna Fail states: "Post-graduate students contribute a major element of all the research that is done in the State. The present situation whereby a post-graduate student is paid a token £2,000 a year (before deduction of fees) militates against Irish graduates making a career in research and development. Fianna Fail undertakes to examine a more equitable system that would more accurately reflect the importance of the work done by these post-graduate students which will include, but will not be limited to, the abolition of postgraduate fees and the standardisation of postgraduate support."
Is the Government also considering this matter? When does it plan to implement the policy? When is the Union of Students in Ireland going to lobby the Government on this issue? Does it still represent post-graduates as well as undergraduates? - Yours, etc.,
Kevin Farrell,
Lucan, Co Dublin.