Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Acting Chairman for notifying me of that in time and I thank the Minister of State for coming in to address this issue. One of the most frightening phrases I have discovered since coming into this House is being told a matter falls between a number of Departments or agencies. The issue of international students’ health insurance unfortunately is one of those that seems to fall between the Department of Health and the Department of Justice, and there is an interest on the part of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

International students are important to this country, as the Minister of State is aware. They enrich the fabric of our higher education institutions and we are fortunate we have top-class higher education institutions here that can provide international education. As a result of a court challenge and case taken by the Health Insurance Authority, a student who comes to this country to study for longer than a year is deemed ordinarily resident here. The problem is he or she is no longer able to avail of the discounted health insurance of which such students, who for the most part are healthy individuals, are able to avail. This is a huge cost for international students and it has been a problem I have signalled in this House for well over a year. I have a Bill before the House which I would hope we could move to Second Stage, but rather than us having to deal with it through legislation, I would prefer that a decision would be taken on the part of Government to resolve this matter.

It is something that is of great concern to international students, the Irish Council for International Students, the Union of Students in Ireland and the higher education institutions themselves. They have all raised this as a matter of concern for well over a year. My frustration reflects their frustration that we have not been able to see a resolution from Government. It is a relatively small issue in the overall scale of things.There are a number of potential solutions. We should be able to come to a solution to ensure students have the necessary cover while, at the same time, ensuring the cost of it is not prohibitive.

I have raised this matter with Ministers in various different Departments. I have raised it with the relevant civil servants, who, in fairness, have tried to resolve it. It is well over a year since this issue first came to public attention and I cannot figure out why we do not have an answer from the Government. I appreciate international students are not travelling to the same extent because of Covid-19 but in the new year, our higher education institutions will be encouraging international students to come to Ireland and we, as a Government, need to be clear about what measures are going to be in place for their health cover. I am disappointed this issue has been running for so long. I hope the Minister of State will be able to provide us with some information as to progress today.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for his question and for the work he undertakes in supporting this sector, ensuring Ireland remains an attractive place for international students to study. It is important that every effort is made to encourage these students to make this decision and support them once they come here. I also understand that it is important for any jurisdiction to have in place certain restrictions and requirements on those people who choose to come to the State, to live or to study, and in that context, my colleague, the Minister for Justice, has policy responsibility for immigration matters. I accept that the Senator has been raising this matter for more than a year.

From my understanding of immigration policy, in order for these students to first come to Ireland, they must meet certain visa requirements, one of which is to hold health insurance for the duration of their stay. Therefore, in respect of the Senator's question as to whether there has been progress on easing this requirement, officials in my Department have been engaging with officials in the Department of Justice to explore if this requirement should be necessary for these students at all. In this regard, discussions with those officials are at an advanced stage and in the coming weeks I hope to have positive progress to communicate to the Senator.

Given that I do not have the role or the remit to speak directly on issues concerning immigration policy, I will speak on the matter of health insurance and Ireland's community-rated system of health insurance, as it is directly within my remit and policymaking role. As the Senator will be aware, we have a voluntary, community-rated market in Ireland. This means that there is no requirement for any person to procure private health insurance under Irish health insurance legislation. A community-rated market means that when someone does decide to purchase health insurance, they are not risk rated and, therefore, are not discriminated on the basis of age, gender or health status. This is long-established Government policy and it ensures that health insurance policies are affordable for everyone. It is legislation with which we can all agree.

To maintain this policy of community rating, and under the Health Insurance Acts, any person who is ordinarily resident in the State and purchasing private health insurance must buy a community-rated health insurance policy from a registered insurer. This ensures the products these consumers are buying are regulated by the independent regulator of health insurance, the Health Insurance Authority. Providers who sell health insurance to consumers must also comply with the provisions of the Health Insurance Acts, which include open enrolment, community rating, lifetime cover and minimum benefits.

Irish health insurance legislation does not currently contain any reference to persons who are required to hold health insurance. This requirement is a part of a person's visa checklist when they are preparing to come and stay in this country, and the policies and procedures around visas are not within my policymaking remit or that of my Department.

I again thank the Senator for his question and commend his work in this area, ensuring these students continue to come to Ireland to study and are supported appropriately once they are here. As I said, there are new works in the Department and I hope we will be in a better position in a few weeks.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Minister of State's answer. Part of the difficulty I had in tabling this question was whether to direct it to the Department of Health or the Department of Justice. My worry, if I had tabled it to the Department of Justice, was that Department would say this is a health insurance matter. I appreciate the answer the Minister of State has given but the reality is that it comes back to buck passing between the two Departments. I do not care which Department is responsible for it. I know the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science wants to move on this issue as well. I want the issue sorted. I put the question to the Department of Health because when I spoke to different Departments, I kept being informed that this is a matter for that Department. I had discussions with the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for insurance, Deputy Fleming, and he told me this is clearly a matter for the Department of Health. At the end of the day, I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, is saying advanced discussions are ongoing, but we have been waiting for more than a year. I ask him to have good news for us before Christmas.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator again for his contribution and for raising this important issue. As outlined in my opening reply, this issue concerns international students coming to study in Ireland who are required to adhere to particular immigration visa requirements, one of which relates to having private health insurance. I repeat that it is not within my policymaking role within the Department, as the Senator said. Officials in my Department have been engaging with officials in the Department of Justice to see if this requirement should be necessary for these students at all. It is good that those discussions are at an advanced stage and, in the coming weeks, I hope to have some positive progress to communicate to the Senator. Perhaps in two months, or certainly at some time next year, this issue will be resolved.