Written answers

Thursday, 20 May 2021

Department of Education and Skills

Third Level Education

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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149. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the work by his Department to extend the Erasmus plus programme to students in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26125/21]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank Deputy Richmond for raising this matter, and I take this opportunity to update all on the current position on the status of the Erasmus and NI students.

Since the Government decision in October 2020, officials in my Department have been engaging with higher education institutions (HEIs), North and South to appraise their International/ Erasmus Officers of the proposal in the first instance, but also identifying issues to be addressed in the delivery of this initiative. However, it was not possible to formalise these discussions, as at that stage, the UK had not communicated any decision in respect of its continued participation in the Erasmus programme.

As part of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which was concluded last December, provision was made for the UK to continue in the programme, subject to a fair and transparent financial contribution. The UK announced very soon afterwards that it did not wish to continue in Erasmus programme, and that it would develop its own mobility programme. This decision, of course, impacts on education institutions and their students in Northern Ireland.

Once the UK decision was confirmed, my officials began a series of meetings with representatives from NI institutions engaged in the delivery of higher education programmes. This includes the 6 Regional Colleges along with the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, where up to 20% of higher education is undertaken in NI. Overall, there is a positive reaction from the NI HEIs to the proposal, with the early indications of student interest to pursue the Erasmus option.

In parallel with this, officials in my Department were also in touch with their counterparts in the Department of the Economy in Northern Ireland, and kept them informed of their engagement with NI institutions.

The engagement process also included key officers from Irish HEIs, with the objective of developing operational guidelines for the scheme. Again, I am heartened by their response to support my Department in developing a robust process implement this measure.

In March 2021 my Department was advised by the Northern Ireland institutions that there was unspent Erasmus grant funding due to the restrictions on travel arising from the public health guidelines. They would be able to use this money to fund mobilities for the 2021/ 2022 academic year, and would avail of the new scheme from September 2022.

My Department is continuing to work on the operational guidelines with HEIs, North and South, and further meetings are planned in the coming weeks.

Northern Ireland HEIs also raised the question relationship with the proposed ‘Turing’ scheme, which the UK Government is developing to facilitate UK mobilities. My Department has stated to all stakeholders, and specifically, NI HEI representatives that the Irish Government initiative is designed to offer choice to NI students - should a student wish to pursue a Turing mobility, it is a matter of choice for him/ her. There is no requirement for the NI HEIs to offer either Erasmus or Turing.

Finally, I am also committed to explore an extension to the initiative to include Further Education students and my officials are currently working on exploring the options in this regard.

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