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

I see the point and the scenario the Deputy described and I am sure these talented young people have great opportunities available to them in certain specialist centres of education outside the State. It is unfortunate that specialist area of training is not available in the State at present. There are institutes such as the Royal Irish Academy of Music and a number of different dance and music courses are available across many institutions. I am not sure of the degree of compatibility. I heard the Deputy say, and noted it, that this particular course is not available in the State. I am not sure whether there are comparable courses. The Deputy mentioned he had explored the avenue of the Arts Council. It does appear that this may be a candidate for a bursary scheme or sponsorship scheme. There are students studying in Ireland who have such bursaries from their home states, although not necessarily from their states but from sponsors who have taken them under their wing to promote their talent. Sometimes that happens on a private sector basis. In examples I have seen, students ended up in Ireland supported by sponsors abroad but it is not a scheme currently in operation here.

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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