SU President concerned about student cost-of-living report: “I’m surprised it’s not worse”

Research from Switcher.ie shows that the average cost of a year in third-level education in Ireland has risen to over €16,000.

In Galway, the average cost is estimated to be €16,064. This is up five percent from 2025, which clocked in at €15,367. The 2026 costs are broken down to €598 per month for accommodation, €95 per month for utilities, €230 per month for groceries, €145 per month for transport, €400 per month for entertainment, and €39 per month for gym.

University of Galway Students’ Union President Seán de Búrca feels that the reality of the situation may not be reflected in the Switcher report, however.

“[Switcher] sets out the average monthly rent as €598. We look at that new student accommodation down by the docks, where, on the cheaper end of the scale, it’s €300 a week. So, you know, two weeks, and you’re hitting the monthly average.”

The report also disregards the €500 reduction in student contribution charges, which can still be levied despite the government’s decision to permanently scrap it in Budget 2026.

The five percent rise in Galway’s average comes as no surprise, as de Búrca points out the continued struggle of students since the economic crash in 2008.

“This paints a bad picture, but the reality is quite possibly worse,” the SU President told SIN. “We’re looking at that, based off the figures that they have, it’s a five percent increase in the cost of living for students. Like that’s insanity, but it’s also worth noting that typically the inflation rate for the cost of living for students, if you look at the period of 2011 to 2021, the inflation rate for students was at 8.3 times that of the general population.

“On some level, I’m almost surprised it isn’t worse, given how dire things have been for students since the crash, with no support there.”

Despite the rising price of student life in the county, CAO applications for University of Galway courses have increased from the country’s poorest counties, including a 25 percent increase from County Donegal.

“What we’re going to see is, I would imagine,” de Búrca continued, “higher rates of people who are going to have to turn down their course because they can’t find anywhere they can afford. Students are going to be to struggling to make ends meet, whether it’s relying on the Hardship Fund, or just end up working the full-time job while also trying to be a full-time student. So, we’re definitely going to see worse outcomes for students. I think that’s an inevitability based off the figures. Probably what it means is that we’ll see a lower retention rate. It’s something to be very worried about”

Mr de Búrca pulled no punches when it came to his criticism of the government’s current student housing plans, saying that “the Tooth Fairy does more for students, at this stage.”

“For a start, the government needs to revise its National Student Accommodation Strategy to involve doing something,” he said. “As it stands, it’s a terrible strategy, it’s one very much saying that it’s up to the universities to do anything without the provision of funding to allow that. So, instead, essentially it’s saying that public lands should be given over to private developers so that some accommodation can be built. It’s not far off the minister just crossing his fingers and saying, ‘I hope something will happen.’”

“Another thing actually the government can do is, of course, commit to reducing fees, ideally eliminating them. That’s a considerable factor. If they reduced fees by €1,000 this year, that would mean that we’d be looking at the cost of living for students being decreased instead of going up. But it’s become apparent that it’s looking very unlikely, as things stand, that the government has any intention of using this budget cycle to make life better for students.”

Closer to campus, the Students’ Union is urging the University to work closer with them on the issue of student accommodation, modelled on existing co-operative systems that avoid excessively high rent prices.

“For the university, as it stands, there’s not sufficient funding provided for them to be able to do what needs to be done. But I would ask that they work with the Union so that maybe some of those lands that they’re being told to give away, instead of going to these private developers who want to price gouge, that they can work with us towards developing a student housing co-operative where it’s owned by students.

“You can look at seeing how this model works over in Edinburgh, Sheffield, Birmingham, where students aren’t going to charge themselves an extortionate rent; where it isn’t done on the basis of trying to create a profit, but rather is done on the basis of trying to create a service.”