International Students

193. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department has sought or received reports or analysis regarding the number of international students attending high-demand courses in Irish universities; and the findings of such reports or analysis. [71960/26]

The Ceann Comhairle has indicated that the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, will take this question. Perhaps she will actually answer it and the Minister might learn how to do so.

I am stuck with the evader. This is a very simple question. Has the Minister sought or received reports or analysis on the numbers of international students attending high-demand courses in Irish universities, and if so, will he outline the findings of such reports or analysis?

We had this debate last July but we will repeat it anyway. My Department has not commissioned specific reports examining the number of international students enrolled across Irish universities. However, we engage with them on these matters on a regular basis. I have sought similar information because I want to know the figures and scenarios that present. In addition, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, collects and publishes enrolment data on international students and broad fields of study across the publicly funded higher education system, and that data is available at www.hea.ie. The most recent HEA data shows there were approximately 32,940 non-EEA students enrolled in publicly funded higher education institutions in the 2024-25 academic year, representing about 12% of the overall student population. While data is available by broad field of study, separate statistics on international student enrolment in individual high-demand programmes are not routinely published. It is very much the norm internationally, and is, in fact, a positive contributing factor to university rankings, that there should be diversity in student populations. An entirely homogeneous student population is not considered to be positive or healthy. When we look at the rankings, two of the Irish universities are back in the top 100 and we aspire for many more to join them. The proportion of non-EEA students making up the student body, at 12%, is not a particularly large number and does not make us an outlier in any way. In fact, we would probably find the corresponding number to be much higher in the world's leading universities. It is important to recognise that international students make a significant contribution to our higher education sector and to the wider economy. They enhance diversity on campus, bring new ideas, talent and skills, and strengthen our global academic and research connections, which is absolutely vital. I attended the Bologna Follow-Up Group conference in Croke Park this morning, at which representatives of 47 countries talked about how to compare notes and collaborate on higher education. We discussed Ireland's ratification of the UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education. These are good organisations to be part of because knowledge does not recognise any borders.

The Minister knows that I agree with most of the points he made. I agree that international students are an important part of the fabric of our universities. I have never heard any rational person suggest that our universities should not be diverse and should not include students from abroad. As he said, the overall figure of 12% is in line with international norms. The difficulty is that we do not have the information as to whether that 12% is concentrated in individual courses. While 12% across the HEA population is absolutely reasonable, if it is the case that the percentage of international students is much higher on individual high-demand courses - 40% plus, for example - that would be a cause for concern. I hope the Minister would agree, particularly if those courses are for specialist roles in respect of which the State is dealing with a shortage of personnel, especially in the medical field. Can we obtain that type of information, and if not, why not?

When we discussed this issue previously, we looked at the specific figures. They showed it was not the case that international students were outnumbering Irish students, or anything like it, on those high-demand courses. I do not have the figures to hand but, as I said, the HEA website provides some additional information, if the Deputy is interested. More broadly, it is critical that we ensure there is a sufficient number of places to cater for demand, primarily domestic demand and also, of course, demand across the EU in line with our reciprocal arrangements with other member states. That is why I have concentrated on increasing the number of places available on high-demand courses in the likes of medicine and nursing. There are now 100 nursing students attending Maynooth University, where the school of nursing did not exist a year ago. It is a brand-new school, the creation of which I supported. We have a new pharmacy course at the University of Galway and new courses at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, including a dentistry course to complement the courses at Trinity College and UCC. We have new courses in veterinary medicine at the Atlantic Technological University, ATU, based in Donegal and Galway. South East Technological University, SETU, is providing veterinary courses for the first time at Waterford and Kilkenny.

That is all very well but the Minister did not answer my question. Why is there a reluctance to provide course-by-course information? My concern arises from the fact I have constituents, as I am sure does he, who have done incredibly well in their leaving certificate examination and want to do courses like medicine, veterinary science and dentistry. They are subjects in which we need more qualified people because there are shortages of personnel in many parts of the country. Some of those students, who may have missed out on the points requirement by only one, two or five points, are doing a course that is not their first choice or they are travelling abroad to complete their desired course. Does the Minister not think they are entitled to know whether the university they want to attend is selling off a large number of places on those courses, beyond the international norm, to high-income international students? It is a fair question and it is fair that this type of information should be publicly available.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for her vote of confidence. It might have been the case a couple of years ago that students were missing out on high-points courses because of an insufficient supply but it is not the case any more. Looking at the most recent CAO offers, not a single student missed out on his or her course of choice on random selection at maximum points. All students who received maximum points gained entry to their course of choice.

I did not ask about students with maximum points.

I understand there was one scenario where students applying for dentistry in Trinity College maxed out but, fortunately, RCSI had added capacity to the system, supported by my Department and me, which meant those students could walk around the corner of St. Stephen's Green and take the course there instead. Not a single student in the State who wanted to study dentistry was prevented from doing so by random selection. In the case of pharmacy courses, the points actually fell this year because we now have, for the first time ever, five different institutions offering a pharmacy degree. Supply has moderated pressure on points and we are beginning to see the effect of that. In regard to international students, if a university wants to offer additional places beyond those supported by the State, it is welcome to do so. The State provides for the places that are made available to Irish and EU students. That is a very important principle. No student missed out this year, which was because of the extra places coming on stream.