Vol. 527 No. 3
367 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason a person (details supplied) in County Galway is classified as a foreign national for university fees in view of the fact she is married to an Irish national and has been living here for the past three years. [28229/00]
My Department understands that the student to whom the Deputy refers is the spouse of an Irish national but is not, herself, an Irish or EU national.
Under the free fees initiative, my Department meets the tuition fees of eligible students who are attending a full-time undergraduate course, which must generally be of at least two years duration, at approved colleges.
Eligible students are those who are EU nationals, have been ordinarily resident in an EU member state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved course, and are first-time undergraduates. As the student referred to is not an EU national, she is not entitled to free tuition under the free fees initiative.
Within the university sector, the practice is for the individual institution to determine the rate of tuition fee payable by non-EU nationals, or by EU nationals who do not meet the residency requirement in the free fees initiative criteria.
