Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response. As always with these matters, it is a prepared response. It is not the Minister of State's fault that this is not nearly comprehensive enough to address the nature of my query. What of the student who is an Irish citizen who has been outside of the EU? It is quite clear from the Minister of State's script that it is only in the case where they have been getting their second-level education in the EU that they would qualify for the more moderate EU fee, as the Minister of State described it. What of people returning from abroad to do a Master's degree? If they were in the Irish system, they would proceed to free fees on the Master's programme. They are being deprived of that. The Government needs to rethink this whole area and to look at the injustice being done to Irish citizens returning from abroad who wish to study and who should be availing of that study at the same rate as an Irish person who was educated and studying at home.