Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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69. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if it will be ensured that those going to third-level education in September 2020 in blended learning settings will not have to pay the current level of registration fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19240/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under my Department’s free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate students with students paying the student contribution.

The student contribution is currently €3,000 with the last change in the 2014/2015 academic year. The exchequer pays all, or part of, this contribution on behalf of almost 50% of students eligible for free fees via the student support grant.

Where students do not meet the eligibility criteria of the Free Fees Initiative, for example full-time undergraduate students who do not qualify for the free tuition fees; part-time undergraduates or; any post-graduate students, it is a matter for the higher education institution - as an autonomous body - to determine which fee rate is applicable for students.

Planning for models of blended learning is taking place against a backdrop of an evolving public health environment and will continue to be monitored and adapted as required to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff. The balance between face-to-face and online will vary across programmes and will depend on factors such as the disciplinary teaching and learning needs of, and the numbers of students registered on individual programmes as well as the practical/theoretical balance of learning outcomes in the programme.

Any determination as to the level of fees to be charged is a matter for each institution in accordance with it's own particular operational conditions and circumstances in ensuring education provision for students through this pandemic.