Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 125: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the financial or grant assistance available to a person (details supplied) in County Limerick studying to be a paramedic at a training institute in County Galway. [13245/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Under my Department's student grant schemes, eligible candidates may receive funding provided they are attending an approved course at an approved institution as defined in the relevant scheme. I understand that the college referred to by the Deputy is a private college and is not on the list of approved institutions for student grant purposes. The Deputy will appreciate that, in the current economic climate, I am not in a position to consider any such extension of the list of approved institutions.

However, Section 473A, Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, as amended by Section 11 of the Finance Act 2011 provides for the introduction of tax relief for fees paid in publicly funded colleges here and in other EU Member States as well as in private colleges in the State. This relief, which applies at the standard rate of tax, is available to full-time and part-time students and includes distance education courses offered by publicly funded colleges in other EU Member States. Further details on claiming this relief are available from the Revenue Commissioners' website at www.revenue.ie.