Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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515. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an Irish citizen, who moved to Switzerland with their family five years ago, will be classed as a foreign student and charged fees as such, if they were to attend university in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28322/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The higher education tuition fee payable by a student can vary depending on a variety of factors including the type of course and the student's access route. The assessment of a student’s application and the determination of the appropriate fee rate is a function of the institution attended.

As the Deputy may be aware there are typically two rates of fee, an EU Rate of Fee or a non-EU rate of tuition fee. Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day-to-day management and operational affairs. This includes setting the criteria a person must meet to be regarded as an EU or a Non-EU tuition fee student.

The criteria may vary by institution and I understand that an institution’s criteria will generally include specified Nationality and/or Residency requirements that students would be expected to meet to qualify for the EU rate of fee.

My Department responded previously to concerns about the impact of the Free Fees Initiative eligibility criteria on Irish nationals who had, for occupational or economic reasons, to move abroad, requiring them to take their children out of the Irish education system in the process.

To this end, the Department advised that, with effect from the academic year 2014/15 onwards, higher education institutions should charge the more moderate rate of EU fee for students that commence their first undergraduate course of study in an approved institution here and:

• Hold EU/EEA/Swiss nationality but do not meet the residency clause of the Free Fees Initiative; and
• have completed five academic years of study (at either primary or post-primary level) in an EU/EEA/Swiss State.

As the Deputy will appreciate, it is not possible for my Department to intervene in the fee policy of the institutions or to advise on the specific criteria of individual institutions. Where a student has a query in relation to an institution's EU or non-EU fee policy they can contact the institution they wish to attend for advice appropriate to their own individual circumstances.