Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

879. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to ensure, as a budgetary priority, the provision of the same access to fee-free third level education to returning emigrants as to other citizens; if she will undo the situation where medium to long term emigrants must pay fees if embarking on third level education on return after a number of years away; the cost of doing this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20323/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Exchequer funds tuition fee costs in respect of eligible students who are pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of study under my Department's Free Fees Initiative. 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.

Where full-time undergraduate students do not qualify for free fees funding they must pay the appropriate fee as determined by their third level institution. Third level institutions are autonomous bodies and it is therefore a matter for the institution to determine the rate of fee payable by students (EU or non-EU).

However, in the case of students who do not meet the residency clause, higher education institutions have been requested to charge the more moderate EU fee to EU/EEA/Swiss nationals who have completed at least five academic years of study (Primary or Post-Primary level) in the EU/EEA or Switzerland.

It has been agreed that a review of this measure will be carried out early in the 2015/16 academic year, following this work my Department will be better placed to provide the detailed costing referred to by the Deputy. There are no plans at present to amend the residency requirement of the Free Fees Initiative.