Sinn Féin Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has said the government must do more than lip service to reduce the costs of going to college.

Responding to the Irish League of Credit Unions latest research, showing the rising costs of a student going to college is almost €1000 per month and that 84% of parents are struggling with the cost of third level education, Deputy Crowe said this makes a mockery of the idea of a free and accessible education in Ireland.

Speaking today Deputy Crowe said;

“Nobody should be surprised that parents are saving to send their children to college. This has always been the case, but the difference these days is that many families are struggling with austerity and rising unemployment, and the government is not doing enough to reduce the costs of actually attending college.

“Eight out of 10 parents are supporting their children with college-related expenses and this is costing parents nearly €1,000 a month. While many parents are funding their children from their wages, some 40pc are using their savings, and 25% are borrowing from their credit union.

“The Credit Union has itself said that credit union loans for parents to pay their children’s college fees have seen a jump from 11% in 2011 to 25% in 2013.

“The SUSI system that processes the grants has been a disaster from start to finish with thousands of students supposed to live on fresh air while waiting for their grant to be processed. This is putting added pressure on already struggling students and their families who are desperately trying to support them.

“Approximately half of our university students receive a grant, but more than half of these have had delays getting the cash paid. According to this research, these delays have forced a third of grant receiving families to delay paying essential bills, as their scarce funds are diverted to pay for university costs

“Some 56,000 leaving cert students will get their results tomorrow and many of them will be hoping to get their preferred course when the CAO offers are made on Monday. But the sad reality is that many of them will not be able to take up the offer and many more will drop out due to purely financial difficulties.

“This research found that one in 12 students will drop out of college this year solely due to the financial stress.

“All of this makes a mockery of the idea of free and accessible education in Ireland.

“The Labour Party was elected on a promise not to increase third level fees but that was broken as soon as they entered government.

“This government, and the Labour Party in particular, needs to do more to tackle the practical costs and not just pay lip service to the supports needed to go to college and receive a third level education.”

ENDS