Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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858. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of each student enrolled as an undergraduate full-time, part-time, remote and FETAC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21744/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The cost of each student enrolled as an undergraduate student will vary across institutes and disciplines. For example laboratory based disciplines ( science, engineering, etc ) will have a greater cost than non-lab disciplines (arts, business, etc). Health related disciplines (e.g. medicine and dentistry) will be significantly higher than non-lab disciplines.

An average cost for an undergraduate student (taking all disciplines into account) would be in the region of €9,000 - €10,000 per student per year.

My Department does not provide funding support for part-time or blended undergraduate courses through the free fees initiative.

In terms of funding, my Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA designated higher education institutions.

My Department is working with the EU Commission to undertake a strategic review to develop a sustainable funding model for higher education, including an economic evaluation of the future funding options. The comprehensive review will assist us in our endeavour to secure the future of our higher education sector. A core feature of our consideration must be what is best for students and their families, the next steps we take must remove barriers to accessing third level education and help individuals reach their full potential whether it be through employment or education.

In July I announced a funding package of €168 million to support publically funded further and higher education providers and to support students. Through the Government's July Stimulus package a programme of immediate investment in upskilling, reskilling and refreshing of skills will commence. This funding for higher and further education and training to address this situation amounts to €100m and will fund over 35,000 additional student places in the current year.

In addition to Covid support packages which I have recently announced, Budget 2020 provided for increased planned investment in Higher Education, an increase of 25% compared to 2016 – an amount in the order of an additional €370 million bringing the total funding for the sector in 2020 to €1.87 billion (up from €1.5 billion in 2016).

Reform of the National Training Fund has invested over €190million in Further Education and Training and Higher Education in the past 3 years since the levy increase was introduced.