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The cabinet is set to decide today whether students will be hit with college registration fees of €2,500.

Registration fees are currently set at €1,500, but the cabinet has been examining the feasibility of a 66 per cent increase on the charge.

According to reports in The Irish Independent, a €3,000 fee was on the table. The paper also reports that the lower increase is set to be rubber-stamped.

While 70,000 undergraduates are now facing the charge, some 65,000 students from lower income backgrounds, who are on higher education grants, will be exempt.

In order to qualify for the full grant, students need to have come from a family with a yearly income below the €41,110 mark.

The cabinet is also looking at proposals to introduce a €500 charge for students taking Post Leaving Certificate courses of one, two or three years’ duration.