Mr. Michael Roche:

What we have found in UCD is that students tend not to drop out of their courses. What they tend to do is impoverish themselves to continue their degrees. This is generally due to pressure from home to continue, as well as internal pressure to put themselves in a better economic circumstance than the one they are in. I have reported that the situation is sadder than a student dropping out. What students find is that they will experience food poverty. UCD launched a food pantry for the first time this year. This is a step that we did not necessarily want to take, but we feel that, based on our research, there is a demand for it. It is something that we will offer students this year.