Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 769: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her plans to abolish fees for part-time learners in higher education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9488/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's recently published National Development Plan 2007-2013 highlights the importance of higher education skills in the economy in order to maintain competitiveness into the future. To increase the levels of workplace learning and upskilling, the Government agreed under Towards 2016 to establish a targeted fund to alleviate the fees in public institutions for part-time courses at third level by those at work who have not previously pursued a third level qualification. The development of proposals under this fund is now being advanced. It is intended that this targeted fund will be linked with a Modular Accreditation Programme (MAP) which being developed by the Higher Education Authority. Modularisation is a key factor in higher education institutions meeting the education needs of part-time students with work commitments. Substantial progress has been made in developing the MAP and it is intended to bring forward proposals in relation to the targeted fund provided under Towards 2016 in the near future.