Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement of the fact that international students do make a contribution. They contribute in so many ways to our country. The Government is looking at student visas in the context of our national migration and immigration strategy.

For the purpose of clarity with regard to the issue of total registrations, there can be multiple registrations during a year, so the number of total registrations is not entirely indicative of the number of students but it is a reasonable guide.

When looking at the broader framework, it is important that we look at students, namely the number of students coming here, the types of courses they are studying and the benefit people and academic institutions are getting from that and that we take an overall broader look which takes all aspects of this into account. There is no point in saying anything but that the students do make a great contribution in so many ways to Ireland and that is important to recognise.

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