Vol. 496 No. 6
128 Mr. P. Carey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a scholarship or bursary exists within his Department to assist a person (details supplied) who is studying medicine in Nigeria to pursue his studies in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23472/98]
Irish Aid operates a fellowship training programme, under which individual students, mostly from the six priority countries in Africa — Leso-tho, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia — are selected for courses of further study, usually in Ireland. Training under the fellowship training programme is aimed at students at postgraduate level. The programme is intended to ensure that training is closely related to Irish Aid's core priorities of improving the provision of basic services to the poorest of the poor.
The preferred courses are in the following sectors: primary health care, education, technical and vocational training, agriculture and rural development, public administration and management skills.
The closing date for receipt of applications under the fellowship training programme was 20 February 1998. Decisions on the award of fellowships for the 1998-99 academic year were made by a Fellowship Awards Committee on 12 May 1998.
In any event, the student referred to in the question would, at age 18, appear to be an undergraduate and would thus be ineligible for consideration under the programme.
I would suggest that this student, when eventually qualified, be advised to make an application through the Embassy of Ireland, Lagos, for a fellowship to study a subject within the range of sectors set out above.
