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The scheme, which offers free hot water through the shops after 3pm, is running on a trial basis for the month of November.
In conjunction with the scheme, the opening hours of the SU Library shop, located in the James Joyce Library building, have been extended until 7pm Monday to Thursday, with a 4pm closing time on Friday.
When asked why the SU has made the decision to waive the 30c surcharge on hot water for the exam season, Welfare Officer Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich explained “The reason is, basically for students if you have a Pot Noodle or you have a cup of soup, or you want to make a Lemsip, there’s currently nowhere on campus that you can really do that for free - unless you have access say, a staff room kettle, or bring in your own kettle. [...] It’s just a way of helping students, and of pointing out the need for it, and getting UCD to install- to have stuff for students to provide them with hot water. We have more commuting students than ever, we have students in here doing very long days, and the least they can do is make sure that they can have a cup of tea if they need to.”
UCDSU President Molly Greenough spoke of the more technical aspects of the scheme, elaborating that “We appreciate the need for hot water on campus and have been working alongside the Student Services to bring in a hot water tap in the Student Centre as a potential long term solution to this problem. We will update the student body as progress is made on this front.”
On the shop scheme itself, Greenough expanded, “The 30 cent surcharge is specifically waived after 3pm. Up until 3pm the SU shops are often too busy to allow for a potential influx of students who may only want to use hot water. We need to prioritise normal operations of the shop during peak hours. [...] Students can freely use the hot water in their own cups, mugs, pot noodles etc. We ask that students don't take an SU cup as the SU Shops pay for these cups. We also ask that students don't use the hot water facility to wash out cups and dishes as this inevitably leads to drainage issues.”
Students availing over the surcharge free hot water after 3pm do not have to bring the water through the till, but have been asked to make it known to staff that its what they are in for, for the purposes of aiding shop staff in facilitating the scheme.
The SU are also currently in talks regarding opening the Library shop over the weekends ahead of exam season, but no promises have been made on this matter. Any further changes to shop opening hours will be made available via the UCDSU website and social media.