Students and staff at third level campuses will walk out of lectures this afternoon to shine a light on the growing crisis in higher education funding.
Major demonstrations will take place on the main campuses of UCC and CIT as part of the 'Fund the Future' campaign, with students set to walk out of classes at 1pm.
Students from several other third level institutions will also strike at lunchtime.
The campaign, started by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), calls for immediate investment in higher education in Ireland.
The current student contribution charge is €3,000 per annum. The figure increased by 363% between 2007 and 2014. Over the same period, third level funding was reduced, with students at UCC and CIT claiming that this had a significant impact on campus facilities, such as counselling services.
Síona Cahill, USI President, said that the current situation is 'unacceptable.'
"The sobering facts for students today is that at €3,000, Ireland will have the highest fees in the EU after Brexit. Meanwhile, SUSI grants have not increased for students in line with the cost of living and soaring rents in Ireland today," she said.
"Students and staff will join us in actions across all college campuses in a powerful action making clear that we will not be an easy target for cuts."
In a statement, the Coalition for Publicly Funded Education said that the funding issues now will continue to have a major impact in the future.
"The Department of Education and Skills has accepted the findings of the detailed analysis of the scale of the funding deficit that was carried out by various expert groups on their behalf. If urgent action is not taken, there’s a real risk that today’s 7 and 8-year old primary school students will not have sufficient college places available to them in 2030 when the demographic bulge peaks with an additional 40,000 students seeking to access the third level."
