The past few weeks have been extremely demanding with a huge number of very challenging meetings and committees. Aside from the committee work I am engaged in hard lobbying of TDs and Senators to ensure a number of pieces of key legislation are passed before the dissolution of the Dáil, and also that some proposals vanish into the bin they deserve to be confined to. USI has been very active and National Council in Galway was a tough but rewarding weekend’s work. A lot of people have been calling in to me, ringing or emailing about the new parking policy, and I hope my article here is informative. As I said, it’s not perfect, but it is better than you think it is.
The Student Support Bill is a piece of law that takes the awarding of grants out of the hands of VECs and Local Authorities and places it under a single unified agency, which will work a lot like the CAO, which is a very slick organisation. Furthermore the multiple existing grant schemes will be amalgamated into one, logical and comprehensive scheme. As Kildare is permanently on the worst offenders list for grant delays this is particularly welcome news for our students here in Maynooth.
Getting the Bill passed by the Oireachtas has been about as easy as moving a mountain, and it has been in process since February 2008 in its current form. Right now, the Bill has passed its last committee stage and is on the way to the Seanad. From there it goes back to the Dáil one last time before hitting the President’s desk. I and my colleagues across the country have been working really hard to make sure the Student Support Bill is passed before the Dáil implodes spectacularly as it surely will in the coming months. Right now that lobbying is in the form of multiple emails and phonecalls with Senators with whom I have a good professional relationship such as the NUI panel and Senator Alex White who is married to a member of NUIM staff. Our work so far got the bill through the joint committee on education in a single day, so I have high hopes we can get it done.
The Government’s so-called National Recovery Plan is horrible. According to the plan the Registration Fee will be renamed the Student Contribution Charge and will be increase to €2,000. Even though that is less than we initially feared, the change of name and even a single euro increase is unacceptable. Students will be forced to drop out in their thousands and our economy will be severely damaged by the impact this will have on the quality of our work-force. The grant may be cut yet again in the budget due on the 7th of December, causing yet more strife and drop-outs as students simply no longer have the money to tolerate such cuts. The stone has been bled dry. Worse, in a way, for our long-term prospects is the €1 cut to the minimum wage. This means that we will have to work longer and harder to reach a basic living income, and the €2,000 target for the reg fee over the summer may prove impossible for some. Then, when we leave college, either the dole or a pathetic income of €7.65 awaits us if we’re lucky. Dublin Airport’s new terminal two starts to look lovely for a single visit with a Qantas ticket in the back pocket.
Our tactic here is simple. With the loss of the Donegal bye-election the Government needs its independents more than ever before, and we have assurances from two of the most important of them that they will fight for us, but we need more and the intense lobbying required is being handled in a dedicated and professional way by nearly every SU in the country.
In local work, the Teaching and Learning committee of the Academic Council met recently and has finally agreed to set a 25 hour per credit threshold on all modules. This brings NUIM into line with the Bologna process and in the future transferring from NUIM to other colleges will be significantly easier, as every college in Europe will eventually be at the same threshold. Don’t worry about specifics, as it won’t change much for you, but it makes things easier if you want to do a year abroad.
Next week I’m sitting in as the contenders for the canteen tender compete in bloody warfare for the coveted title. We’ve a pretty comprehensive idea what students want from the canteen but if you have any specific ideas I always welcome emails to president@nuimsu.com
Finally I am delighted to welcome Robert Dixon, a research postgraduate student of physics to the MSU executive committee as our Postgraduate Officer. Robert was co-opted unanimously by Union Council two weeks ago and is settling in nicely. His full SU induction will be soon over and he will be delighted to hear our postgraduate’s enquiries and I have no doubt he will serve his constituency with dignity and distinction. Welcome aboard.
Much Love,
Aengus
Your Union President
November 26th, 2010
