Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this matter. There are two issues. I took the words "student assistance fund" from the question. In regard to the student assistance fund of €16 million, which is available in all colleges across the Republic of Ireland, I can confirm that students from Northern Ireland are eligible to apply for support under that scheme. The Deputy is familiar with the scheme so I will not take the time to go through it.

In regard to the €50 million once-off financial support scheme, it is my intention, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, to announce the design of that scheme in the coming days. I will share my thoughts on it with the Deputy. It is likely that there will be a once-off top up payment to people in receipt of the SUSI grant, which could include people from Northern Ireland. There is also the possibility of having a once-off return or a rebate of some of the registration fees.

The figure of €250 has been out there. People have arrived at that by taking a figure of 200,000 full-time students in higher education in Ireland and dividing it by €50 million which equals €250 per student. The long and the short of it is that if a student is in receipt of the SUSI grant or paid a student contribution fee, which students in the North would have, then he or she will be as entitled to access the scheme as are students in the Republic. They are likely to be the two vehicles. I can revert to the Deputy when I have details of the scheme, which is likely to be in about a week or so.

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