Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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619. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the consideration and support for international students studying here prior to Covid-19 that may struggle to pay fees due to not being able to work over the summer period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25190/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to HEA designated higher education institutions. This includes grants to cover the tuition fees, excluding the student contributions element, for undergraduate students eligible under the terms of the Free Fees Initiative Scheme.

Where students are not eligible under the terms of this scheme they must pay the appropriate fees either EU rate or Non-EU rate as determined by the higher education institution. In these cases, as autonomous bodies, the determination of international status and level of fee payable is a matter for the relevant institution to determine in accordance with its own criteria.