Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me an opportunity to raise this issue which is of importance to the students of Donegal and all the Border counties, in particular, as well as the rest of the country. Third level fees were introduced in the North of Ireland a few years ago and a change to the fee structure is being planned for September 2006 whereby top-up fees will be charged to students. It would appear that while in the past the tab for students from the Republic was collected by education boards, this will no longer be the case and, therefore, fees will be applicable to Irish students attending Northern universities.

I declare an interest in that I attended university in Jordanstown just outside Belfast for seven years. I know how important and useful it is to be able to access many different universities when filling in UCCA forms and other third level college application forms at leaving certificate stage. In the context of the Good Friday Agreement we are supposed to be advocating all-Ireland policies and the integration of the Thirty-two Counties in terms of access to education, health, retail therapy and so on. It is important that the Minister for Education and Science would intervene in this matter.

I was annoyed on looking through the manifestoes and policy papers of Northern Ireland parties because, as a member of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, the issue of top-up fees and access to Northern colleges would probably not arise if the Northern Executive were up and running. One of the parties stated that fees exacerbate inequalities in access and that the decline in the number of students from low income, rural, isolated and marginal communities was unacceptable.

Another party, coming from a different background, stated that fees act as a deterrent to potential university students from disadvantaged backgrounds and that Queen's University and the University of Ulster had worked hard to be open to all. One party referred to the intention of Queen's University and the University of Ulster to apply a maximum of £3,000 per year from 2006 and that this would lead to severe hardship for students. However, another party stated that the amount of £3,000 per year would only be an introductory amount that would inevitably rise.

A further argument propounded by one party was that top-up fees would damage the health service because people from working class backgrounds would not be attracted to the health professions because of the cost. A party from a completely different background stated that students could opt for cheaper courses regardless of the value they add to their education because subjects like science, engineering and professions such as law and medicine would be more expensive and thus people would not apply for them.

Coming from Donegal, I would like to think that the people with all these views on education would make their own decisions. I would love to see the Executive up and running so that these decisions could be made. Unfortunately, as the Executive is not up and running, students from the Republic could face fees that did not exist previously. This will be to the detriment of students wishing to attend the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, Coleraine or Magee or Queen's University. We have enough anomalies in the system with the recognition of courses and NVQs.

We are supposed to encourage people into education to give them foundations. We keep on using the mantra that a better educated population is a better equipped one in terms of society and the big, bad world, yet we appear to be in a negative free-fall since the Good Friday Agreement in that, in the past, people like me from the Republic were free to go to Northern universities and their fees were dealt with but students in future will be charged. The argument in the North is that everybody is getting charged so everybody is being treated equally, but I am getting representations from people who want to avail of Northern universities and from families that have more than one child who wishes to access university. The prospect of such fees is bad enough for one child but would be extremely difficult for families with a number of children wishing to go to university.

Given that the Executive is not in operation, it is important that the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, would pass on my request to the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, to raise this issue as a matter of urgency with her counterpart in Northern Ireland rather than wait for people to complain this time next year about fees or that nobody went to the Northern universities.

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Keaveney for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I will reply on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, who is unavoidably absent owing to a prior commitment. The free fees initiative scheme operated by the Department of Education and Science provides free tuition to eligible students who attend approved third level courses. The main eligibility conditions of the initiative are that students must be first­time undergraduates, hold EU nationality or official refugee status and have been ordinarily resident in an EU member state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course. The courses approved for free tuition are full-time undergraduate courses of not less than two years' duration which are followed in approved third level institutions in the State. At present, in the region of 40 institutions deliver courses approved for free tuition.

There are no plans by the Department of Education and Science to extend the eligibility conditions of the free fees initiative to cover students attending third level institutions in Northern Ireland. Under the terms of the Department's maintenance grants schemes, grant assistance is available to eligible students attending approved third level courses in approved institutions. An approved course for the purpose of the schemes means a full-time undergraduate course of not less than two years' duration and a full-time postgraduate course of not less than one year's duration pursued in an approved institution. To qualify for grant assistance, a candidate must satisfy the prescribed conditions of the schemes, including those relating to residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment.

Students from this State who attend undergraduate courses in Northern Ireland can apply for maintenance grants in respect of approved courses which are pursued in colleges approved for the purpose of the Department's higher education grant scheme and vocational education committees' scholarship scheme. Both these schemes provide that where a candidate is not eligible for free tuition under the free fees initiative and is pursuing an approved course at undergraduate level in an institution listed in the State, the local authority or vocational education committee may award a full or part grant in respect of the candidate's lecture fee, subject to the terms of this scheme.

There are no plans to extend the payment of tuition fees under the student support schemes to undergraduate students attending approved courses outside the State. It is understood, however, that students attending higher education institutions in Northern Ireland and who are ordinarily resident in a member state of the European Union will be eligible for a fee loan from the Northern Ireland authorities up to the amount charged by the higher education institution. Further clarification is available from the Department of Employment and Learningin Northern Ireland. Its e-mail address isstudentfinance@delni.gov.uk.

Section 473A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 also provides for tax relief on tuition fees, at the standard rate of tax in respect of approved courses at approved colleges of higher education, including certain approved undergraduate and postgraduate courses in EU and non-EU member states. I thank Deputy Keaveney for raising this matter in the House.