Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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89. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills regarding the residency requirements for accessing third level education for returning emigrants, his plans to make any changes to the current system which states you must be resident in Ireland for three out of the past five years to qualify for the free fees scheme, with the result that young persons who emigrate for two years or more and wish to return to education may be charged full non-EEA international fees. [3506/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The main criteria of the Free Fees Initiative is 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.

Where students do not qualify for free fees they must pay the appropriate fee - either EU or Non-EU rate, as determined by their third level institution. The higher education institutions are autonomous institutions and the level of fee payable by students who do not meet the requirements of the free fees scheme is a matter for the relevant institution.

While the issue of fee rates payable by students is entirely a matter for the institutions I have requested that the Higher Education Authority liaise with the sector in order to establish and report on the practices currently operated by individual institutions and to seek to agree a common approach across the sector. This review is also intended to examine the issue of Irish students who have been living abroad and intend returning to Ireland to study at third level. It is hoped that, following this review, revised arrangements which will have clear and consistent criteria can be agreed, and will be in place for the next academic year.