Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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929. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps being taken in the United States of America to bring additional students from there to Ireland for academic studies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37491/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The USA is the single largest origin of international students in the Irish higher education system. In the past ten years, we have welcomed over 60,000 US students to our shores.

Irish universities and institutes of technology have forged active study abroad partnerships with US universities and colleges over the past 20 years and the strength of these partnerships is evidenced in our ranking as the 9th most popular destination for US study abroad students.

This year, the Irish Government has signed up to the US Government backed Generation Study Abroad (GSA) initiative – which aims to double the number of US students studying abroad by the end of the decade. My Department provided funding for GSA Tier 1 sponsorship which will ensure Ireland and our HEIs get maximum coverage in the USA with Ireland's offer and message reaching every HEI in the States.

The Government views the sponsorship as an investment in future global relationships that will assist in ensuring that Ireland's international profile and attractiveness is maintained by educating the next generation of US leaders, entrepreneurs and decision makers.

This year also, Ireland was a platinum sponsor of the 2015 annual conference of NAFSA (Association of International Educators) which took place in May in Boston. It is the largest global event within international education. More than 10,000 international educators attend this conference annually from over 100 countries to discover emerging trends in international education and student mobility.