Vol. 434 No. 2
380 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that university students in Ireland who are participating on ERASMUS programmes are being charged the full annual fee by the Irish universities for the year in which these are studying abroad; her views on this practice; and if she will direct the universities to discontinue charging full fees to ERASMUS students for the period during which they are studying abroad.
The ERASMUS programme, which is being funded by the EC, encourages third level students to pursue their studies for a period of up to one year in another member state. While participating in the programme, students receive a grant from the EC Commission towards travel and maintenance costs. Irish students who avail of the programme pay tuition fees to their home institutions but incur no tuition fees to their host institutions in the other member state. Thus Irish participants in the ERASMUS programme are being treated in the same way as all other Irish students in so far as the payment of fees is concerned.
Similarly, students from other member states pay no fees to Irish institutions. Therefore there is no financial gain to the Irish institutions as they incur the costs associated with these students.
