Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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142. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the funding or fees the Irish Council for International Students receives from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30999/14]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Ireland provides important support to post-graduate students from developing countries through a number of initiatives under our development cooperation programme. The objective of the Irish Aid Fellowship Training Programme is to strengthen the capacity of partner organizations in our key partner countries. Fellowships are targeted at mid-career professionals who, on completion of the Programme, have committed to putting their acquired skills into practice in their country. Fellowship awards are also aligned to priorities and thematic areas identified in Ireland's country strategy programmes in our key partner countries. These fellowships are awarded annually to successful candidates from Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, and also from Palestine, Timor Leste and Burundi, for study in Ireland or within their own country/region.

Separately, fellowships have been awarded, to successful post graduate applicants from Vietnam under the Irish Development Experience Sharing Programme (IDEAS). The IDEAS scholarship programme has two elements. The first has funded Masters of Business Administration and other business related Masters Degrees at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School since 2009; the second, which is a technical scholarship, was launched in 2013. It covers postgraduate study in technical subjects such as biotechnology, pharmacy and ICT. A small number of scholarships have also being awarded to students from Laos. A number of students from South Africa also receive Fellowships under the Kadar Asmal Fellowship Programme, the aim of which is to strengthen the capacity of organisations in South Africa to combat poverty and vulnerability through economic development. In total, it is anticipated that a total of 110 Fellowships will be awarded this year.

Each of these programmes is managed by my Department in cooperation with relevant Embassies and a management agency, the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS). It provides specialist support to the Irish Aid Fellowship Desk for all strands of the Fellowship programme by supporting the Fellowship application process, including appraisal and selection; contributing to the successful completion by high quality candidates of their studies under all strands; and researching and proposing options that will extend the range of potential study choices available under the Fellowship Programme. ICOS also works to develop, support and maintain an alumni network for all Irish Aid funded study fellows.

In 2014, ICOS will receive a management fee of €213, 486 from Irish Aid, which includes all overheads.