Vol. 491 No. 3
527 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Education and Science the proposals, if any, he has to introduce the payment of college fees for students attending college in Northern Ireland or anywhere else in the United Kingdom; the courses to be covered; if all fees will be reimbursed; if his attention has been drawn to the importance of this situation for students and parents in the Border region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12264/98]
Students attending approved courses in approved third level institutions in Northern Ireland are eligible for fee grants subject to meeting the terms of the student support schemes. The approved courses and institutions are set out in the annual schemes. Fee grants are not payable in respect of courses pursued in third level institutions in Britain. I have no plans at present to introduce fee grants for this purpose due to overall resource constraints.
Under the British Government proposal to introduce tuition fees, I understand that all EU students entering higher education courses in the 1998-99 academic year will be eligible for grant assistance towards this tuition fee from the UK authorities, subject to the same conditions as will be applied to UK students. In this regard, it is likely that those students with reckonable incomes below £23,000 will be fully grant-aided by the appropriate local education authority and will not have to pay any contribution towards the fee. Students with reckonable incomes of between £23,000 and £35,000 will be partially grant-aided and will accordingly, only be liable for a portion of the full fee. Students whose reckonable income exceeds £35,000 are unlikely to be grant-aided and will be liable to pay the full £1,000 tuition fee.
It is important to note that students who commenced higher education courses in the UK prior to the 1998-99 academic year will not be affected by the introduction of a tuition fee. For those students the current support arrangements will continue for the normal duration of their current course. Similarly, students who had their places confirmed before 1 August 1997 and subsequently deferred their place until the 1998-99 academic year will be treated as other students who commenced courses in the 1997-98 academic year.
