Foreign Students

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

Questions (256)

Brian Hayes

Question:

288 Deputy Brian Hayes asked the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the number of non-European Economic Areas students attending colleges here from 2005 to 2009, broken down by sector of study and country of residence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26428/10]

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Written answers

Minister for Justice and Law Reform (Deputy Dermot Ahern)

While the particular information sought by the Deputy is not readily available nor maintained by the immigration authorities, the available statistical information, as set out below, may be of interest. Table 1 outlines the total number of students registered in Ireland for the years 2006 to 2009. Table 2 provides a snap shot of the position as of 11 March 2010 for non-EEA Students by education sector and top five nationalities. It should be noted that non-EEA national students attending courses for less than 90 days are not required to register with the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Table 1: Total Number of Non-EEA Students registered in Ireland each year from 2006 to 2009

2006	2007	2008	2009
33,056	39,720	44,942	45,518

Table 2: Statistics by Nationality on Non-EEA Student Immigration to Ireland as at 11 March 2010

Nationality	English Language	Further Education	Higher Education	Other	Total
Chinese	2,006	2,226	3,770	90	8,092
Brazilian	3,160	861	112	65	4,198
Mauritian	795	2,760	76	12	3,643
American	8	54	2,307	172	2,541
Indian	13	1,174	1,213	130	2,530
Other	2,075	3,131	5,410	1,273	11,889
Total	8,057	10,206	12,888	1,742	32,893