Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will examine the situation in which a person (details supplied) in County Dublin, is being deprived of their educational entitlements and are being charged such large fees because of a bureaucratic mistake; if he will advise on how this can be corrected; if his Department will ensure that this situation does not arise again; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31697/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Under the terms of my Department's Free Fee Scheme the Exchequer meets the cost of tuition fees in respect of eligible students who are pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of study which are a minimum of two years duration in an approved higher education institution. The main conditions of the scheme are that students must be first-time undergraduates, hold inter alia EU/EEA/Swiss nationality in their own right, and have been ordinarily resident in an EU/EEA/Swiss state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course.

Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and the criteria governing the level of tuition fees to be charged (EU or Non EU rate) , in cases where undergraduate students do not qualify for free fees and in the case of postgraduate study, are a matter for the institutions to determine and accordingly I have no role in the matter.

Section 473A, Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, as amended by Section 11 of the Finance Act 2011, provides for tax relief, at the standard rate of tax, for tuition fees paid in respect of approved courses at approved colleges of higher education including certain approved undergraduate and postgraduate courses in E.U. Member States and in non EU countries. Details are available on the Revenue Commissioners' website at www.revenue.ie.