Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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2691. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the public expenditure at third level education, per student, for each academic year from 2020 to date in 2025, in tabular form; the number of students at third level for each of the same years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44970/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The information that the Deputy has requested is not readily available, my officials are currently collecting and collating this information. I will come back to you as soon as possible.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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2692. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students at third level education at each level of fees, for each year from 2020 to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44976/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous institutions responsible for their own academic affairs including the development of relevant curriculum, determining tuition fees and student numbers on individual courses.

Tuition fees can vary depending on a variety of factors, including the type of course and the method of provision.

My department does not maintain a schedule of tuition fee rates that individual institutions may apply. Therefore, the number of students at each level of fees, within individual higher education institutions, is not available.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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2693. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of places being provided as part of the recently published 2025 Springboard+ programmes for courses covering artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, software development, e-commerce, and traditional ICT courses; the cost of providing the courses for this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45018/25]

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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2730. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of places being provided as part of the recently published 2025 Springboard+ programmes for courses covering artificial intelligence; cybersecurity; cloud computing; software development; e-commerce; and traditional ICT courses; and the cost of providing the courses for this year. [46687/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2693 and 2730 together.

Springboard+ 2025 was launched in May and is providing almost 8,000 places on 249 courses, including part-time micro-credentials and full-time information and communications technology (ICT) skills conversion courses. Springboard+ is open to the unemployed, employed and those returning to the workforce, subject to meeting eligibility criteria. The programme has demonstrated strong outcomes in learner progression and graduate employability, with the majority of participants securing employment or progressing to further study upon completion.

Information and communications technology (ICT) continues to be a critical skills area for the Springboard+ programme, with over 1,450 places funded on 50 courses in the 2025/26 academic year, which is approximately 20% of total places and courses funded under Springboard + 2025. Overall funding for the 2025/26 academic year of €7.7m is allocated to ICT courses, with approximately €4m of this to be spent by year end 2025. Please find attached figures on ICT places and funding for Springboard+ 2025.

This year’s Call for Proposals identified growing demand for skilled workers in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Cloud and Software Development, and approximately 50% of ICT places are within these critical skills areas. There has been very high demand for places on all Springboard+ 2025 courses, and applications for ICT courses have been particularly strong. We anticipate that these courses will continue to provide the skilled graduates in the ICT areas required for a rapidly evolving labour market in the Republic of Ireland.