Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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78. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his approach to attracting foreign students to Ireland; the estimated monetary benefit to third level institutions and the State's economy of that sector. [19644/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Enterprise Ireland estimates that the international education sector is worth €1.025 billion annually to the Irish economy. The Government is pursuing a range of actions to implement the International Education Strategy and to position Ireland as a top-quality destination for study. At present around 32,000 students are registered in Irish higher education institutions, including 7,000 studying on Irish programmes overseas. Around 100,000 students come to Ireland to study English every year.

Recent progress on implementation of the strategy includes:

- Continued development of the Education in Ireland brand in our priority markets including the USA, China, India, Brazil and the Gulf. This has included a particular focus on social media, and the use of student ambassadors and alumni.

- The launch last week of a new Government of Ireland International Scholarships aimed at attracting top students from priority and emerging markets.

- The strengthening of inter-governmental relationships, including Ministerial-level contacts. In recent months, I led a significant education mission to the People's Republic of China and the United Arab Emirates and Minister of State Ciarán Cannon has visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, India, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Ongoing progress on the strategy is monitored by the High Level Group on International Education which is chaired by my Department