Is Ireland on the way to becoming the most attractive country in the European Union for students seeking to study through English?
Dutch universities offer hundreds of degree programmes taught through English and about 3,500 Irish students are studying there. EU law requires Irish students’ applications for places on these programmes to be treated on an equal footing to those from Dutch and other EU students. The fees for undergraduate degree programmes in the Netherlands are €2,790 annually.
Until Brexit, Ireland attracted about 2,000 applicants from continental EU applicants, who, even then, had to pay less to study here than they did to study in the UK, where they would be charged £9,760 (€11,500). Since Brexit, continental EU applicants have been classed as international applicants in the UK and are levied fees of up to £35,000-£40,000.
Since Brexit, the number of continental EU applicants seeking to secure a place in an Irish third-level institution has grown from about 2,000 to 7,000. As with Irish students seeking places in European universities, these applicants have the same right as Irish students to be offered a place.
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There is an agreed template for the school-leaving exams throughout every EU member state and its transposition into CAO points for the purpose of the round-one competition that occurs immediately after the publication of our Leaving Cert results.
These applicants should not be confused with international applicants, who are offered places at €30,000-plus in our universities. These places are separate to CAO places and our school leavers are not competing with these applicants. Although some years ago, one Irish student took a High Court challenge to seek entry to the international pool of places, stating he was perfectly happy to pay the higher international fees. He lost the case.
We have seen demand from students and Opposition parties for an ongoing reduction in the €2,500 student registration charge.
On the face of it, who could object to such a proposal if the funding were available to implement it?
If the registration charge were to be reduced further to €2,250 or €2,000, this would place Ireland more than €9,000 cheaper than the mainstream charge in the UK and €500-€700 cheaper than the Netherlands.
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We have seen since the Russian invasion of Ukraine how the levels of benefits on offer to those seeking protection in Ireland had a significant effect on the numbers presenting. In recent months, the Minister for Justice Jim O Callaghan has begun the process of bringing the Irish regulations in line with European norms. This is having an effect on the numbers presenting, which seems to be in line with public opinion on this issue.
We are a welcoming nation but we can only cope with our fair share of applicants.
By reducing our registration charges significantly from their relatively low levels of €2,500, would we inadvertently be opening up our universities to a further growth in EU applicants, who will be competing for places on an equal footing with our own Leaving Cert students?
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We are very pleased EU law has allowed thousands of Irish students to travel to the Netherlands and secure their dream course there.
But would we be happy if and when the reverse happened?
Irish students have been somewhat protected from the competition from our fellow EU applicants since Brexit took effect, by virtue of the fact that, since 2021, all our Leaving Cert students have had their corrected Leaving Cert scripts enhanced, initially by 7 per cent, and on a reducing scale of a little over 1 per cent per year since 2025. Following a further reduction of 1 per cent in 2027, all enhancement will cease in 2028. The competition with our EU cousins will only intensify.
Maybe we should be looking at a further improvement in the Susi (Student Universal Support Ireland) grant structure to bring more students within its remit, which ensures a complete exemption from the registration charges, rather than a reduction in the charge itself.
The Government has also acknowledged that the university sector is underfunded. If money can be found down the couch it might be appropriately allocated to third-level funding, rather than reducing a registration change that is still one of the lowest around.
Yes, we want to be welcoming to our continental cousins to come and study in our third-level colleges. It increases cultural diversity and builds relationships across the EU.
But maybe not to the extent that our own students find it progressively more difficult to secure places at home.
