The DIT's decision to increase fees for its part-time music courses has caused consternation in musical circles. From next Monday, fees for individual musical tuition at the DIT's Conservatory of Music and Drama are set to rise by almost 40 per cent. And the fear is that many talented young people will be unable to lay the foundations for a future in music.

Already teachers say some students will be unable to continue their studies. Every year the DIT offers individual tuition to some 2,000 part-time children - some as young as six - and young people. They can work your way through the Associated Board of London's music exams from grades one through eight. Some go on to do diplomas. In addition, many third-level students who are studying music at university come to the DIT to do their practical work. The fee rise could mean many will have to forgo their music education.

It is widely believed among DIT staff that in the drive to acquire university status the DIT is preparing to downgrade non-third level areas, including first- and second-level music tuition. But Dr Ellen Hazelkorn, the college's director of the faculty of applied arts, rejects this suggestion. "We are looking to continue to provide high-quality musical education for a range of students," she says. "There is a role for such a preparatory school and that should be continued."

However, she adds, music education provision is an area of ongoing debate. "It's an ongoing issue and how it should be best serviced remains unresolved." The DIT says that at less than £5 per hour the conservatory's new fees still represent excellent value for money. Next year, for £480 students will receive one hour's individual tuition and a one-hour class in musicianship every week, together with access to the conservatory's choirs, orchestras and bands. According to a DIT spokesperson, the fee increase is necessary "in order to maintain a balance between increasing costs and tuition fees". However, Mr Frank Heneghan, former director of the DIT Conservatory, disagrees. The fee increase, while of serious consequence to many aspiring musicians, is a drop in the ocean for the DIT and is insufficient to allow for improved services and facilities. The real result of the increase, he says, will be to deny many youngsters a musical education and music teachers will lose jobs. "This would be very serious for musical education in this country."

Up to 2,000 students attend the DIT's part-time music courses. Many travel from as far away as Galway and Belfast. Other institutional, publicly funded musical provision is limited: apart from the DIT, tuition is available at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, Cork School of Music, the Limerick School of Music and Waterford Institute of Technology. There are also schools in Tralee, Limerick and Wexford. Music educators argue that students taking music in schools fail to reach the required levels of instrumental proficiency. Without doubt, the DIT Conservatory lies at the heart of Ireland's musical scene. Through its preparatory work with first and second-level students, it feeds universities' music departments, and many of Ireland's world-class performers are graduates of the college.