Since the start of the Gaza crisis, my Department has facilitated nearly 400 people to exit Gaza and travel to Ireland, including students taking up studies in Ireland’s Higher Education Institutions, some of whom won places on the Ireland-Palestine Scholarship Programme.
All arrivals have been facilitated through ongoing and close coordination between my Department, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and Irish Higher Education Institutions.
Since the initiation of the Ireland Palestine Scholarship Programme in 2019, 176 students from Palestine have benefited. For the academic year 2026/2027, my Department offered 30 places on the Programme, of which students were able to take up 24.
I understand that one student from Gaza was unsuccessful in their visa application.
While I cannot comment on the details of individual applications, the Deputy will appreciate that any individual seeking assistance to leave Gaza must first be in possession of a valid visa to travel to Ireland. Visa policy is a matter for the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, which assesses each visa application on its own merits.
Even for those with permission to enter Ireland, facilitating travel from Gaza is complex and requires cooperation and detailed planning across multiple organisations and jurisdictions. It is also dependent on receipt of a number of permissions from the relevant authorities. While every effort is made to secure these permissions, the decision to grant or deny them rests outside the control of the Government of Ireland.
My Department is relatively limited in the assistance it can provide to non-Irish citizens, but I can assure you that my officials will continue to work with partners to provide support to those with the necessary permissions to travel.
