Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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581. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of Irish students who participated in the Erasmus+ programme in each of the years 2015 to 2019, inclusive, and to date in 2020; the countries that the students studied in; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15117/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Higher Education Erasmus Programme Moblilites:

There were a total of 18,258  students (see following tables) from Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on Erasmus mobility between 2015/16 and 2019/20 academic years to  KA103 Programme Countries and KA107 Partner Countries.  Of this figure, 3936 students from Irish HEIs went on an Erasmus mobility in 2019/20, an increase of 23.34% since 2015. The top destination countries for Irish students participating in Erasmus are France, Spain, Germany and the UK.  As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, complete data for the 2020 academic year is not yet available.  My Department provides funding for up to 4400 higher education student mobilities per year.

Vocational Education and Training (VET) and School Erasmus Programme Mobilities:

There were an overall  total of 9,026 outgoing students on Erasmus mobilites in the field of Vocational Education and Training together with Schools between 2015 and 2020.

The combined figures presented for VET and schools include completed and approved mobility projects  shown per country for years up to 2018 and projects for 2018-2020 are still ongoing.For the years 2019 to 2020 the figures for schools are presented by country.  However, due to a change in group countries from 2019 onwards, the VET figures for years 2019 and 2020 are categorised into country groups 1,2 and 3.

The 2020 figures for school mobilities are for Irish led projects which are unconfirmed as the European Commission’s Central Clearing process remains to be  finalised.  The 2020 figures for foreign-led projects with Irish partners will not be available until August 2020.

Due to COVID-19, the European Commission is also supportive of virtual mobilities for the coming academic year.  Irish HEIs are examining how best to manage mobilities for the 20/21 year as many partners across the EU seek to defer physical movement of students for the immediate future.

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Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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582. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who participated in the Erasmus+ programme in each of the years 2015 to 2019, inclusive, and to date in 2020 here; the countries that the students came from; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15118/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Higher Education Institutions Erasmus Mobilities:

There were a total of 39,837 international students (see following table) to Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on Erasmus mobility between 2015/16 and 2019/20 academic years from KA103 Programme Countries and KA107 Partner Countries. Of this figure 7456 international Erasmus students carried out mobility in Ireland in 2019/20, representing a 12% decrease on the previous year.  The top sending countries to Ireland are France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, complete data for the 2020 academic year is not yet available, however an increase to the confirmed mobilities is expected. .

In relation to incoming international student mobiliies in the fields of school exchange partnerships and VET mobility projects,  due to the nature of the EU reporting format this information is unavailable.

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