Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The number of visa allocations has significantly increased on the 26,000 issued in 2010, which brought revenue of €900 million to the economy. The importance of overseas students to our universities cannot be overstated. My colleague, Deputy Jonathan O'Brien, who is our spokesperson on education, tabled Question No. 8. I urge the Minister to continue co-operating with the Department of Education and Skills in this area. I understand that he is also working with the Ministers for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Foreign Affairs and Trade on allocating visas that can benefit trade. I ask the Minister, Deputy Shatter, to ensure his Department has sufficient resources to process these visas.

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