Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the funding has been provided to an organisation (details supplied); the purpose of the funding; and the amount of funding provided by the Government to this organisation from when it was initially set up. [30397/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In 1998, the George Mitchell scholarship programme was established and the Government agreed to contribute an endowment of IR£2 million to the Programme. The purpose of the programme is to enable highly qualified American students to attend third level institutions in Ireland for post graduate studies

The George Mitchell Scholarship Fund Act was enacted in December 1998 and it empowered the Minister for Education and Science to establish the fund in the United States and enter into agreement with persons to manage and control the fund.

The agreement for the management of the fund was signed with the US-Ireland Alliance in March 1999. The income from the Fund provides for the establishment and administration of the Programme as well as two scholarships per annum. The US-Ireland Alliance also secures additional funding from other sources which enables the programme to expand the number of scholarships offered annually.