Dublin City University has faced a backlash over plans to introduce a nonrefundable charge of EUR 50 for new accommodation applications.

The student accommodation service is introducing a EUR 50 fee for first-year students who are applying to stay in campus accommodation for the 2019-20 academic year.

However, the decision to make the fee nonrefundable even for students who were not allocated a room was reversed following an outcry from students.

It was previously free to set up a profile on the Campus Residences website, however each student must now pay the fee in order to be eligible for a room.

The accommodation providers had previously sought to charge a fee of EUR 20 for the 2018-19 academic year but decided against it before registration began.

In response, the DCU Campus Residence released a response saying: "We understand the pressure that students are under and we continue to do everything that we can to make the process as fair and efficient as we possibly can for everyone concerned. Every year there is a significant number of applicants who are successful during the Campus Residences room allocation lottery and who subsequently turn down that offer. This increases significantly the time taken for offers to be sent to genuine applicants."

"The fee in question has been introduced in an effort to get a clearer picture of the number of applicants who genuinely wish to reside in on-campus accommodation and to discourage non-serious applications who register for accommodation at DCU."

A spokesperson added that the fee is full-refundable if a student does not get offered a room on campus.