Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 December 2014
403. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the projected cost of a fund to fully subsidise the cost of attending courses for students transferring into MEI facilitated courses following the closure of language schools they were registered at. [47162/14]
View answerMEI schools have agreed to provide course places to genuine displaced students at a fee of €60 per week. This fee, which was calculated on a cost provision basis, represents a significant discount of 70% on the standard fees for an MEI school in acknowledgement that a fee has already been paid to the closed college.
The other variable is the number of weeks outstanding for each student affected by the private college closures. It is not possible to provide a projected cost of a fund referred to by the Deputy as the students affected by the closures are at different phases of completion in respect of their particular courses of study.
As of Friday 5th December 2014, MEI had received 720 enquiries from students in relation to their discounted course offer. A total of 565 students have now taken up the MEI offer.
