Thomas Byrne
Question:27. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will report on preparedness for a no-deal scenario in Brexit negotiations in his Department. [2981/19]
View answerTuesday, 22 January 2019
Questions (27)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
As of today, 26 sitting days remain until 29 March. As well as our economic prosperity, all-island economy and relationships with our young people and among themselves, our students stand to be dramatically affected by Brexit. While there were some stakeholder engagements with the Department of Education and Skills some time ago, we have not heard much about the plans for the education system.
Coming from a Border county, a no-deal Brexit is the worst possible outcome and would not be in the interests of the UK, Ireland or the EU. While I, along with my Cabinet colleagues, continue to watch developments in the UK closely, my Department continues work to prepare for the UK’s exit. This work, at national and EU level, continues to intensify, taking account of all possible outcomes.
Central to all planning scenarios, the maintenance of rights and privileges under the common travel area, CTA, will protect much of the valuable and rich co-operation which takes place between education on a North-South and an east-west basis. My officials have engaged with colleagues in the Department for Education in the UK on a set of principles which are designed to maintain and build on this co-operation. I am working closely with my Cabinet colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, to conclude this process. It is important to note that, notwithstanding the type of Brexit, the CTA will be in place.
Naturally, I do not wish for a disorderly Brexit, but prudently, I am preparing for this. As part of my Department’s contribution to the Government contingency action plan, an amendment to the Student Support Act 2011 has now been included as one of the parts of the proposed miscellaneous provisions (withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 29 March 2019) Bill. This will facilitate the continued payment of SUSI grants to Irish students attending UK and Northern Irish higher education institutions and to UK and Northern Irish students studying in Irish higher education institutions.
As well as that amendment, I also recently announced that EU fees would continue to apply to UK and Northern Irish students for the 2019-2020 academic year. This brings certainty to UK and Northern Irish students who can be assured that the EU fees will apply for the duration of their studies in Ireland. However, equally important, both of these actions will ensure that Irish school leavers seeking to pursue their higher education in the UK and Northern Ireland will have certainty as they are making their CAO or UCAS choices at this time.
My Department will continue to monitor all Brexit developments carefully. I can assure all stakeholders in education that the contingency planning is being constantly refined to reduce risks arising from Brexit substantially.
I will leave the memorandum of understanding to my colleagues who deal with Brexit and foreign affairs. However, we want legal certainty for students. A year and a half ago, I and my party suggested that we would unilaterally say that, at the very least, students resident in Northern Ireland would qualify indefinitely. Why can we not simply say that students resident in the North, as well as in the UK, will be entitled to the same status as every other Irish and EU student for the foreseeable future? We believe that would send out a positive signal and, in all likelihood, would be reciprocated. It would at least ensure that there is no hard educational border on this island for students.
I note the changes which will be made to the SUSI legislation, which has to happen. Will the bilateral agreement that the Department has in place remain regardless of the Brexit negotiations? Will any aspect of this bilateral agreement or the memorandum of understanding have to be legislated for? If so, will it have to be done before 29 March? What is the status of the memorandum of understanding in the context of a British crash-out and the EU stating it does not agree to aspects of it? Does it have to be run past the EU?
I agree with the Deputy on bringing certainty to these matters. We are already in the first fortnight in January and students in Northern Ireland do not have certainty. It is not good enough if we are going to look at long-term planning or long-term commitments to North-South co-operation as well as the movement of people. Statistics show that the number of students from the South going North has gone down over the past five years. However, the number of students coming from the North to study in the Republic is going up. At the same time, we have to give a little more certainty. People do not live in six-month, nine-month or 12 month vacuums. Students who are doing their junior certificate or their GCSEs are in that space of thinking ahead to where they will get their university education.
I aim to work with the Deputy on that point.
The Deputy asked about guarantees in the event of a no-deal Brexit. I suppose the honest answer is we do not have any guarantees of any variety in the space in which we find ourselves. My officials and I, with the Cabinet as a collective, are trying to control what we can with these omnibus Bills. The free fees aspect of the matter is outside legislation and will be covered by an administrative or policy change. Over 200 students are in the Irish SUSI system this year from the United Kingdom and nearly 1,500 students are getting grants in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, so we must ensure that aspect is protected at all costs.
The Minister has critiqued the decision he made last week simply to give certainty for this year. He said he agreed with me and would work with me on the issue. As the Minister said, this is an administrative measure and I urge him strongly to take a unilateral administrative decision to allow students from Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom the same status as Irish and EU citizens from now on, whatever academic year in which they start. It would be really positive and it would not be any skin off anybody else's nose but it would certainly indicate our education system is open and we do not want a hard border. Fianna Fáil suggested this a year and a half ago and I simply cannot understand why it is done on an ad hoc basis every year.
If a person is thinking of going to university in his or her own jurisdiction, that person may make a late decision. If the person is thinking of going to a different jurisdiction, the decision will not be made six weeks before the Central Applications Office, CAO, deadline, and it will not be made just because the Minister has made this decision in January. I suspect anybody thinking of coming to the South or from Britain would have made such a decision some time ago. Perhaps the Minister's announcement would have been too late. If he had taken Fianna Fáil's proposal, this would not have been an issue at all.
Let us see what we can do in the space. For example, the University of Edinburgh announces measures one year at a time and I know a student who is looking to go to the Netherlands, with that decision possibly taken two years ago. Let us look at the creative space in which we can allow ourselves to work, whether it is on a North-South or east-west basis. I am prepared to work with the Deputy on that.