Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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269. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost to the State of abolishing fees for postgraduate courses. [26905/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The cost to the State associated with the abolition of postgraduate fees is dependent on varying factors associated with type study i.e. full-time or part-time, varying fees associated with different course types and higher fees for international students.

However, based on the fact that in the academic year 2015/16, there were 11,975 EU students registered on postgraduate courses, and using the average cost of an EU postgraduate course, the estimated cost to the State of abolishing fees for EU postgraduate students would be €82.6 million.

It should also be noted that under my Department's Student Grant Scheme, funding of €12.2 million was provided for postgraduate tuition fees in 2015/16; taking this into account, the net additional cost to my Department would therefore be in the region of €70.4 million.