Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 129: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of Irish students who have participated in the Erasmus third level programme that enables Irish based students along with their European counterparts to take a period of time studying for their primary degree in another European country; if her Department has maintained contact with the institutions and the participants of that programme and similar programmes; the statistical information she has relating to the experience of Irish students participating in Erasmus programmes; the numbers involved; the different universities and countries of location and the experiences that have arisen from such participation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21594/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Erasmus programme has been in existence since 1987. Since then, 1.7 million students Europe-wide, including 24,292 students from Ireland, have engaged in study periods abroad under the programme. In 1987, 112 Irish students participated in the programme; this figure rose to 1567 students in 2005-06.

In 2005-06, Irish students spent periods abroad at a variety of universities in 23 different countries, with the three most popular destinations being France (31%), Spain (18%) and Germany (17%). I can arrange to have further statistical information supplied to the Deputy if required.

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) acts as the Irish national agency for the Erasmus programme on behalf of my Department. The HEA promotes, manages and allocates funding to the institutions covered by the programme to support students, teachers and staff from this country who wish to engage in mobility periods abroad. The HEA is in frequent contact with the International Officers of the participating Higher Education Institutions. Regular face-to-face meetings are held with the International Officers to brief them on the implementation of the programme and to gather feedback on the experiences of the institutions, students and staff. So far in 2007, the HEA has had three direct contacts with International Officers and a further meeting is planned before the end of the year. A conference and a celebratory event to mark the 20th anniversary of Erasmus have also been held this year. Both events had student representation present.

To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Erasmus this year, the HEA published a booklet recounting the experiences of students who had undertaken a study visit. The experiences have been extremely positive and terms like "life changing experience", "confidence building", "language improvement", "friendships made", "networks forged" are just some of the comments made.