Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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852. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will extend the free fees initiative to the BSc programmes in education studies and early childhood education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15704/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Free Fees Initiative (FFI), the State provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate students who are attending approved courses. In the 2023/24 academic year, there were over 143,000 students who benefited from the FFI.

Currently FFI approved courses are restricted to full-time undergraduate courses in the public higher education system and a limited number of designated courses in private, not for profit institutions.

A range of public and private higher education institutions currently offer full time undergraduate programmes in education studies and early childhood education. Many of these courses are already part of the FFI. I am aware that courses in these areas are also on offer in the private higher education sector, outside of the FFI. As the Deputy will appreciate, due to the finite resources available, it is not possible for my Department to fund all courses provided by private institutions.

It remains open to private colleges to apply for State funding through competitive call processes, such as Springboard+, to provide courses in response to national skills needs.