Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am here on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, and her Department. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. The Minister is aware that this is an issue on which he is engaged. She, too, is keen to see a resolution to the matter as soon as possible.

By way of background, the Senator will be aware that many immigration permissions include the condition that the permission holder must have private health insurance; this does not just apply to international students. The rationale for this is that the permission holder must be able to support themselves while living in the State without recourse to State services such as public healthcare.

A 2018 Court of Appeal judgment found that students who are here for a course of study for more than one year are deemed to be ordinarily resident for the purposes of health insurance legislation, meaning that, if required to have private health insurance, that insurance must meet the conditions that apply to private health insurance generally. This means that health insurance policies sold internationally to international students would need to be community rated, provide minimum cover and comply with other requirements set out under law, potentially resulting in a higher cost to the student.

Ireland benefits from its international student population and our policy, led by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, is to encourage more international students to come to study in the State. We do not want to create impediments to this but we must also be cautious that any policy changes implemented do not have unintended consequences with implications for the delivery of State services. That is why the Department of Justice has been working closely with the Departments of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and Health to examine the implications of this ruling and to put in place an appropriate solution.

As the Senator will be aware, students already have travel insurance that covers their medical needs for their first year in the State. Discussions are, therefore, ongoing between the three Departments as to whether it would be appropriate to drop the requirement for health insurance under the student scheme, starting from year two. The removal of this requirement could impact public health services and, therefore, the views of the Department of Health are crucial to guiding any decision in this regard. The Minister, Deputy McEntee's office has been engaging directly with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly's office and, as I said at the outset, she is keen to see a resolution to this issue as quickly as possible.