Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2012
199. Deputy Brendan Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to any circumstances under which a person can be denied access to free fees by a third level institution on grounds of residency status while a family member of the same status can be granted access to free fees. [42719/12]
View answerUnder the terms of my Department's Free Fee Schemes the Exchequer meets the cost of tuition fees in respect of eligible students who are pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of study which are a minimum of two years duration in an approved higher education institution. The main conditions of the scheme are that students must be first-time undergraduates, hold inter alia EU/EEA/Swiss nationality in their own right, and have been ordinarily resident in an EU/EEA/Swiss state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course. It is therefore possible that the residence status of different members of the same family will not be the same, depending on the timing and circumstances under which such residence was taken up.
Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and the criteria governing the level of tuition fees to be charged (EU or Non EU rate), in cases where undergraduate students do not qualify for free fees and in the case of postgraduate study, is a matter for the institutions to determine.
I have asked my Department to examine the issue of the entitlement of non-EU families to third level fees and grants generally and I am currently considering the matter to ensure that there is clarity as to precise entitlements in this complex area.
