Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if the siblings of Irish citizens are entitled to access third level education on the basis of fulfilling the three years residence requirement or if they are treated as international students subject to overseas rates. [23171/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I presume the Deputy is referring to my Department's Free Fees Initiative scheme in which there is a three year residency clause as part of the eligibility criterion. Currently, under the terms of the Free Fees Initiative the Exchequer meets the tuition fees of eligible students who are pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of study. The main conditions are that students must be first-time undergraduates and hold E.U. nationality, in their own right, and have been ordinarily resident in an E.U. Member State for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course.

The residency requirement applies to all E.U. nationals, including Irish nationals in accordance with the judgement of the European Court of Justice that access to vocational training must apply equally to all E.U. nationals. Where students do not meet the eligibility criteria of the Free Fees Initiative such students must pay the appropriate tuition fee as determined by the institution. Third level institutions are autonomous bodies and, as such, the level of fees to be charged are a matter for the institution in such cases. I have no role in this matter.