Ms Megan Yeates:

Yes, I did a level 8 undergraduate degree for four years and was not suitable for any funding or any grant. Like Mr. Twomey, my parents paid my student fees for me, otherwise I would not have been able to attend further education at all. As I mentioned earlier, I worked 20 to 30 hours a week on top of my full-time course to provide enough to live on. I live in County Kildare and my course was in Dublin so I had to commute. On occasions I had to stay in Dublin. Like the others I have a car to run so I had to meet the cost of petrol and food. It all adds up very quickly. At times I had to sacrifice my education to pick up an extra shift in work, otherwise the bills would not have been paid the following week. As someone who did not qualify for any funding, it was extremely tough. Having gone back to education now to do a masters, which is again self-funded, even though it is a full-time masters programme I am still working through it to get by.