Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for coming in and giving an excellent and very informative presentation. I want to echo comments on the importance of the creation of this new Department. I am very gladdened to hear the Minister emphasise further education because it is very often overlooked. I was also glad to hear the Minister state so clearly that there are many pathways for people to progress.

That is extremely important and I am very heartened to hear that emphasis.

I want to focus first on the Brexit element of the presentation and drill down into the data on student numbers. There are 200 UK students in receipt of SUSI grants. Does that capture the full number of UK students choosing to attend college in the Republic? I ask the Minister to provide more details on fees. At the moment non-EU students pay far higher fees. Will that apply to UK students or will they be given a dispensation and allowed to attend at EU fee levels?