Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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151. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of claims for tax relief in respect of tuition fees for third level education that have been received, approved and paid; the total amount paid in respect of each of these claims for each year since 2010; to outline any change in the rules in respect of this relief since 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24115/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that the Tax Expenditures table available on the Revenue Statistics webpage ()shows the number of claims and the estimated cost to the Exchequer of relief in respect of qualifying third level education fees. Information is not gathered on the number of claims that are received.

Section 473A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief at the standard rate of income tax (currently 20%) in respect of qualifying fees chargeable in respect of attendance at approved third-level courses. In order to restrict the relief to tuition fees only, an amount equal to the amount of the student contribution (in respect of one student) is "disregarded" from any claim to relief.

The main changes which were introduced since 2010 were that from 2011 (i) the maximum limit in relation to qualifying fees per course, per student, per year increased from €5,000 to €7,000 and (ii) the exclusion in respect of the student contribution, to effectively restrict the relief to tuition fees only, was introduced (this "disregard" has increased in line with increases in the student contribution).

Full details of the relief can be found on the Revenue website at .