Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it to brief it at this early opportunity on the proposed amendment to the Student Support Act 2011. I am particularly keen to protect the excellent co-operation and collaboration between the higher and further education systems of Ireland and the UK and the students, teachers, staff and researchers who benefit from the co-operation. The importance of the maintenance of the common travel area cannot be understated and we are making this a priority of our Brexit preparations with our UK and Northern Ireland colleagues.

The mobility of students and their continued access to support payments are central to the education ecosystem of which the Minister has just spoken. We know we must make legislative amendments to underpin these key aspects of student mobility. I will explain the nature of the amendments proposed, which are broadly technical in nature. They are designed to legislatively permit student support payments to be made to eligible Irish students in the UK and to UK students in Ireland. As things stand, the SUSI grant can be paid only to students studying in the EU. Once the UK leaves the EU it will become a third country. The proposed changes will allow the Minister for Education and Skills to prescribe certain types of students, institutions and courses as approved for the purposes of the SUSI grant system. This will provide the Minister with the power to extend the SUSI grant scheme to encompass the UK post Brexit.

The Bill has five heads, with heads Nos. 1 and 5 focusing on interpretation and title and the commencement date, respectively. Heads Nos. 2, 3 and 4 cover the definitions of an approved institution, approved courses and students. Head No. 2 of the Bill, on approved institutions, allows the Minister for Education and Skills to recognise certain publicly funded higher education institutions in a prescribed country as approved institutions. Head No. 3 describes what an approved course is. This allows the Minister to prescribe certain courses in a prescribed country as approved courses for the purposes of the SUSI grant. The impact of these two heads of the Bill is to enable the Minister to provide for the UK to be a prescribed country to allow the payment of the SUSI grant to Irish students who pursue an approved course in an approved institution in the UK.

Head No. 4 of the Bill extends the definition of a student to include nationals of a country prescribed by the Minister. This will ensure that UK nationals will maintain eligibility for the SUSI grant. The proposed amendment to the Student Support Act 2011 will enable Ireland to maintain one of its key commitments under the common travel area, which is the maintenance of the right to study in either jurisdiction.