Third Level Fees
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

The student grant scheme operated by Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, provides maintenance grants to eligible undergraduate students pursuing approved courses in other EU member states provided, of course, that they qualify for a SUSI grant at home in the first instance. A qualifying student can take that grant with them if they are pursuing a course of study abroad within the EU.
In general, the rules of the scheme state an approved undergraduate course is defined as a full-time undergraduate course of not less than two years' duration pursued in a university or equivalent third level institution that is maintained or assisted by recurrent grants from public funds in another EU member state or the UK. Therefore, there are certain minimal entry criteria to qualify, but they are quite well understood and quite compatible with the SUSI scheme as it operates at home.
Students who may be in receipt of SUSI grants in a domestic institution whose course of study includes a compulsory period of study abroad, and those registered in participating higher education institutions taking part in schemes such as Erasmus or other student mobilities, continue to receive their maintenance grant payments while abroad. Effectively, they take SUSI with them. If they are undergoing a placement, an exchange or an Erasmus programme, their grant travels with them and continues to support them.
However, the student grant scheme does not extend to the payment of tuition fees to institutions outside the State, other than exceptional provision in a small number of cases for postgraduate courses in Northern Ireland. This provision, which has been in place since the establishment of SUSI, is consistent with the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and is intended to promote greater tolerance and understanding between both jurisdictions. A little like the previous question where I spoke about Queen's and Dundalk IT, there is a particular sensitivity and complexity to aligning the North and South jurisdictions but it is seen and treated, I believe correctly, as a special case that deserves special support and a special set of rules to promote and encourage that mobility. It is a special case for Northern Ireland, which does not extend beyond that in terms of fees for tuition payments.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23