Students across the country walked out of lecture halls today in protest of Budget 2025.
The Union of Students in Ireland held a protest at campuses to highlight the financial struggles students are facing.
They say issues such as housing and the minimum wage matching the cost of living are proving difficult for them on a daily basis.
Lucy Bosch, Student Union Welfare Officer at SETU spoke to WLR News at the walkout this morning, saying the Government need to listen.
"The main reason we're here is to get the Government to realise that the budget they've set for this coming year is not suitable. They've given little to no support to third-level education systems as well as promising for years to give students who are living in digs.
"The minimum wage at the moment is not enough to buy yourself groceries and pay your rent."
The minimum wage is set to increase to €13.50 per hour on January 1st, however, Lucy continued saying this is not enough.
"We're happy that it's going up but we want the government to realise the cost of living in this country for housing, electricity even just groceries has gone up to a point where the small raise in the minimum wage that they will be introducing in January doesn't cut it. It is not an amount that a student or a grown adult who is working a job minimum wage can live off of."
Vice President of the Union of Students of Ireland, Niamh Kennedy, says accommodation remains an issue.
"When I was on the way here today I was looking at DAFT under the filter of student accommodation and there were some single rooms that were 875 euros a month, rooms going from 600 euros a month and it's just it's shocking that student grants have to go towards overpriced accommodation instead of actually getting their education."
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