Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I have received a copy of the letter in question which seeks the exclusion of education from the draft EU services directive. While the negotiation of the services directive falls within the remit of the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, the Department of Education and Science is in continuing contact with that Department regarding the evolution of the draft directive.

The Deputy may be aware that case law of the European Court of Justice has drawn a distinction between publicly-funded education programmes and various types of private programmes in terms of whether education constitutes a service within the meaning of the EU treaty. Where programmes of education are provided as part of the national publicly funded education system they are not considered to be services within the meaning of the treaty, even in cases where fees are paid towards the costs. However, courses given in an establishment which is seeking to make an economic profit and is financed essentially by private funds will fall within the remit of the directive.

The present draft of the services directive includes provision in Article 1 to the effect that the directive "does not deal with the liberalisation of services of general economic interest reserved to public or private entities nor with the privatisation of public entities providing services". The text also makes it clear that member states are free to define, subject to the treaty, what services should be considered to be of general economic interest and how they should be organised and financed, and what obligations they should be subject to.

I am advised that the vast majority of educational provision in Ireland, being publicly funded, will fall outside the scope of the directive. However, the Department of Education and Science will continue to monitor developments with regard to the directive on an ongoing basis.

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