Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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722. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students from the Twenty-six Counties who applied to universities and colleges in the North of Ireland, by county, per year between 2020 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53054/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not record data on the number of students from Ireland who have applied to universities and colleges in the north of Ireland.

However, my officials have accessed publicly available data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in the UK. (www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students) The table below shows the number of students from Ireland who are studying in Northern Ireland from 2020 until 2024.

This data includes both fulltime and part-time students enrolled in Postgraduate research and Postgraduate taught degrees as well as all undergraduate degrees.

The data for the academic years 2024-25 and 2025-26 are not yet available.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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723. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on plans to align CAO and UCAS results dates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53055/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Central Applications Office (CAO) is a not-for-profit company created by the Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It processes applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on the behalf of HEIs. Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. The processing and issuing of Round 1 CAO offers is contingent on the availability of Leaving Certificate results. However, my Department does not have a role in the operation of the CAO, or the determination of offer dates.