Written answer
Third Level Fees
The temporary tuition fee, stipend and PLC bursary supports for Ukrainians beginning new courses in 2026/27 will end, with eligibility determined under mainstream student-support schemes. Higher education institutions independently decide students’ EU or non-EU fee classification, while the Department continues providing information on available supports.
4103. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on the need for clear guidance for higher education institutions regarding applying EU fee status to students living here under temporary protection following withdrawal of the temporary tuition fee support scheme for Ukrainian students starting courses in 2026/2027 (details supplied); and his plans to support such students who were admitted through the CAO and assessed as an EU student prior to the change in position. [63861/26]
Comment on this
As part of the State's emergency response to the war in Ukraine, the Government introduced a range of temporary supports for people arriving in Ireland under the EU Temporary Protection Directive. These measures included education supports for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BoTP) who were entering further and higher education.
Subsequently, in line with the wider approach across Government to transition from emergency responses to more sustainable long-term arrangements, it was necessary to review these supports and bring them more closely into line with those available to Irish citizens and other eligible students. This approach reflects the need to place supports on a sustainable footing while continuing to provide access to education through the mainstream student support framework.
Accordingly, in May 2025 the Government advised both prospective students and the higher education sector that the Temporary Tuition Fee Support Scheme, the BoTP Stipend, and the PLC Bursary would close to any applicant commencing a new course in the 2026/27 academic year. This advance notice was provided to allow students and education providers sufficient time to plan for the changes.
As a result, persons from Ukraine commencing a new higher education course in the 2026/27 academic year are subject to student support eligibility criteria that apply under the relevant support schemes, primarily the free fees initiative and the student grant scheme. Information is available at
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-further-and-higher-education-research-innovation-and-science/publications/supports-to-beneficiaries-of-temporary-protection-botp-for-academic-year-20262027/.
It should also be noted that higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for determining their own policies and procedures in relation to tuition fee classifications. This includes the criteria that students must meet to qualify for an institution's own EU rate of tuition fees or whether an institutions non-EU fee rate applies. The assessment of an individual student's fee status and the determination of the applicable fee category and fee rate are matters for the institution concerned.
The Department remains committed to supporting equitable access to education and continues to engage with the sector to ensure that students from Ukraine are informed of the supports available to them through the mainstream student support system.