A motion to empower the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President and Welfare Officer to work on a campaign to tackle student poverty has passed at council tonight.
The motion, which was carried over from last year’s final council, was proposed by current Welfare Officer Damien McClean, who last year served as Citizenship Officer. The union now has a broad mandate to lobby the government to consider student interests ahead of the government budget and to investigate practical measures to help ease the burden of poverty on students.
Furthermore, they will examine the impacts of poverty on the student body, with particular emphasis on hidden homelessness, food poverty and drop-out rates due to financial issues.
Speaking at council, McClean said the motion would support students “going through financial struggles or if they can’t afford a meal in college”.
The motion was passed with no objections from the council.
Research by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) showed the extent of the problem. In a recent survey, it was found that 87 per cent of students fear that financial constraints may force them to drop out of third level education. Fifty-eight per cent are skipping meals to be able to continue to pay for college, while approximately two thirds are being forced to skip lectures as they must prioritise work in order to continue to pay for college.
