Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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751. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality on what grounds was the year 2004 chosen as the cut-off point for arrival when devising the 2004 student probationary scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28005/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the introduction of the new immigration regime for non-EEA students on 1 January 2011 introduced a limit of seven years as the maximum period that a non-EEA national may reside in Ireland on a student permission. The time limit was necessary to curb the misuse of the student immigration channel by economic migrants. Tackling abuses of the system was part of a whole of Government strategy that refocussed efforts on growing the international education industry.

The new policy applies to all students who have arrived in the State after 1 January 2011 as well as to those students who were already resident in Ireland on that date. Special provisions were made to facilitate those students who exceeded the seven year time-frame (i.e. those who arrived before 1 January 2004) on the date of introduction. These special provisions were extended on several occasions to allow for "timed-out" students to complete their studies, avail of post-student pathways or arrange for their departure from the State.

As a final measure in assisting the transition to the new regime, the Student Probationary Extension was made available to those students who had been continuously resident in the State since before 1 January 2005. This cut-off point provides for those students who were "timed-out" at the introduction of the new regime as well as those who first registered in the State in the twelve months following 1 January 2004. The eligible group consists of those most immediately impacted by the change. They had the longest continuous residence in the State and more limited time to adjust to the provisions of the new regime before reaching the seven year cut-off point. Overall the seven year limit is a generous one and provides ample opportunity to motivated students to achieve all of their academic goals.