News
Rural students hardest hit under loan scheme
Third-level students from a rural background could be disproportionately hit in the pocket if a proposed income contingency loan scheme goes ahead.
That’s according to the President of NUI Galway Students’ Union which represents over 17,000 Galway students.
The introduction of a loans scheme for students would see a shake-up in the assessment methods used for third level grants – and, according to the President of the NUI Galway Student’s Union, Phelim Kelly, that could leave rural students with a much heavier financial burden than their urban counterparts.
In NUI Galway, 46 per cent of students are currently in receipt of third level grant funding from Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI).
Mr Kelly notes that the university would be known for having a large rural student body, with sizable numbers coming from outside the city as well as Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Donegal.
According to Mr Kelly, these students face costs that students in an urban setting are largely unaffected by – including transport costs, rental accommodation as well as food and living costs. These are expenses that students from urban areas can avoid by going to college in their home city.
“Take for example a student from Donegal, they have to travel a considerable journey to get to college and they would have to pay for their rent and food,” he said.
This is clearly visible in DIT Campus Life’s ‘Cost of living’ survey which pointed to a €4,000 difference in the costs associated with college for people in urban and rural areas. Urban students spend on average €7,000 per annum while their rural counterparts face an average cost of €11,000.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is urging students to vote for a party in the general election that will protect their interests and pledge not to introduce any such loan scheme.
Following two successful voter registration drives at NUI Galway, the Students’ Union believes that this could be enough to sway political party’s respective policies on education.
“We registered over 4,000 students before the Marriage Equality Referendum and a further 2,012 last semester, for the General Election. About 50 per cent of those are registered in the Galway region alone,” said Mr Kelly.
According to the USI, the proposed changes to the grants system could see means testing carried out on assets as well as income, something that is likely to affect those from farming backgrounds the most.
The average annual income of farmers, according to Teagasc’s National Farm Survey, is just under €27,000 which means that the children of these farming families are almost certain to qualify for support with current income thresholds. This certainty would be lost if land and property were to be part of any means testing.
While the student loan scheme will likely only be one of a number of proposals on the funding of third level that any future government will have to consider, it seems to be the one gaining the most traction.
An alternative, supported by the USI and backed by NUI Galway’s Student’s Union, is an education charge on corporations.
According to Mr Kelly, a high-quality and well-funded third level sector provides many benefits for large corporations in Ireland.
“One of the main things we saw is that large corporations don’t pay proper tax and they rely on skilled graduates and an educated workforce,” he said.
Mr Kelly called for a reduction in student registration fees, which have risen to €3,000 since the beginning of the economic crash.
“We are in a period of economic recovery so I think it’s time we saw a reduction in fees,” he said.
Both the NUI Galway Student’s Union and the USI are vehemently opposed to the introduction of an income contingency loan scheme. Mr Kelly pointed to the UK, the US and Australia where similar systems are in place.
“We have comparisons with different countries – they have completely crippled the UK government, the US system is just a disaster and in Australia, 18 per cent of the loans won’t be paid back. Why would it work here?” said Mr Kelly.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
