Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 November 2022
452. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if an EU student resident in Ireland for the past three years is eligible for the free fees Initiative if their parents are resident in Romania; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56318/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe fee payable by a student can vary depending on a variety factors including the type of course and the student's access route. The assessment of a students application and the determination of the appropriate fee rate is a function of the institution attended. It is therefore necessary for students to contact the institution attended for guidance on the fees applicable to a course of study.
Under my Department's Free Fees Initiative, the State pays tuition fees, exclusive of the student contribution, on behalf of eligible students attending approved full-time undergraduate courses. In order to qualify for funding under the Department’s Free Fees Initiative, students must meet the inter-alia criteria of the scheme including the separate residency and nationality/citizenship requirements in their own right.
In order to meet the residency criteria a student must have been ordinarily resident in an EU/EEA/Swiss/UK state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course. The three out of five year rule takes cognizance of students who wish to take time out to travel or work abroad. Such students can still meet the residency requirement if they have not been outside the jurisdictions referenced above for more than two of the previous five years.
The assessment of eligibility under the Free Fees Initiative in individual cases is a matter for each institution to determine within the terms of the scheme and it is not possible for my Department to advise on the determinations made by individual institutions.
Where a student requires guidance on the determination of eligibility for free fees it is necessary that a student engage with the fees office of the institution attended. Direct engagement will offer students an opportunity to understand the determination of the institution and provide a basis for the student to provide additional information to the institution as appropriate to assist in the institution in determining a student's eligibility.
Where students do not qualify for free fees funding they must pay the appropriate fee - either EU or Non-EU, as determined by each higher education institution. These institutions are autonomous bodies and the level of fee payable by students who do not meet the requirements of the free fees scheme is a matter for the relevant institution to determine. This includes setting the criteria a person must meet to be regarded as an EU on Non-EU tuition fee student.
