Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23 ============================================================ Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West The Government is deeply conscious of the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians. Ireland has consistently stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people, including by supporting access to higher education opportunities in this State. Since the outbreak of the war in 2023, 90 students have been awarded Government-funded scholarships to study here. In addition, approximately 60 Gazan students have come here to study in that period through scholarships offered directly by higher education institutions. For the 2026-27 academic year, data from the Department of justice tells us that 50 student visas have been granted to students from Gaza. The Ministers, Deputies Lawless and Jim O'Callaghan, are now engaging directly with higher education representative bodies to progress a clear pathway for eligible students for the next academic year. We all are in solidarity with Palestinians. We all want to see these scholarships awarded and visas facilitated. It is a matter then of each individual application being assessed. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-23