Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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522. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who opted to defer their studies in the 2020-2021 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5078/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Higher Education Institutions are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997, the Institutions of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. Under this legislation the institutions are academically independent and are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes, including in relation to admissions and deferrals.

Deferrals are granted at the discretion of the Higher Education Institutions, and my Department does not hold any data on the number of deferrals granted in any given year. However the higher education sector has indicated that there was no significant increase or decrease in the number of deferrals in 2020 in comparison to previous years.