Call for probe of Trinity student fees

Fine Gael has called for an investigation into claims that Trinity College student registration fees are not funding student services.

Fine Gael Education Spokesman Brian Hayes has called for the Comptroller and Auditor General to initiate an investigation into claims that a portion of the student registration fee being paid to Trinity College is not going towards student services.

The revelation was made at a meeting of the Oireachtas Education Committee this morning.

Committee Chairman Paul Gogarty read from a letter he had received from the President of the Students Union at Trinity College.

The union claims to have evidence that a large portion of the fees is not being dedicated to student services as required by law.

TCDSU President Cónán Ó Broin said 'We need accountability and transparency in how registration fees are spent. In the current climate where value for money is essential, students and parents deserve better.'

Responding to a TCDSU claim that almost two thirds of the registration fee is being used to subsidise core funding, Tom Boland, CEO of the Higher Education Authority, said 'I would contest that but the situation is complex.

'When the student service charge was increased this year, university buidgets were decreased by a similar amount, the rationale being that up to that point the core bugdets of the universities were funding those student services.'

He said that he hadn't read the submission in full but would be happy to meet with the TCDSU and said that the Authority had student representatives.