Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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83. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that can be taken to waive the payment of €9,000 in fees for a college student (details supplied) that transferred from science in TCD to medicine in UCD after first year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49260/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The position is that currently under the terms of my Department’s Free Fees Initiative, tuition fees are not paid in respect of a repeat period of study, where the previous third level course attracted exchequer funding (including free fees).

As the student in question has already completed one year of a Level 8 course in Trinity College  Dublin (TCD) she is therefore not eligible for free fees for the same duration of time spent on the previous course.

The assessment of eligibility under the Free Fees Initiative in individual cases is a matter for each higher education institution to determine within the terms of the scheme.

Where students do not meet the eligibility criteria of the Free Fees Initiative they must pay the appropriate tuition fee as determined by the third level institution in accordance with their own criteria.

Another option open to students may be the Student Assistance Fund (SAF).  The SAF assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Details of this fund are available from the Access Office in the college that the student is attending, University College Dublin (UCD).

You will appreciate that as the terms of the scheme are for general application, exceptions can not be made in individual cases.