Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O'Sullivan T.D. leads a visit to Brazil

During the St. Patrick's Day period, Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O'Sullivan completed a six day trade and education mission to the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, São Paulo and Campinas. This was the first time an Irish Minister has led a St. Patrick's Day mission to Brazil.

While education formed the central part of this six-day mission, the Minister also participated in receptions for the Irish communities in Brazil, and met with Irish businesses working in Brazil, and Brazilian businesses considering investment in Ireland. The Minister also officially opened the Consulate General in São Paulo and was involved in the greening of several major sites in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasília.

Minister O'Sullivan was accompanied on the mission by representatives of nine Irish higher education institutions, and witnessed the signing of 11 memoranda of understanding between those institutions and their Brazilian counterparts.

To underpin the support of the Irish government for further developing our links with Brazil, the Minister announced that half of the scholarships being granted this year under the Government of Ireland Scholarship Programme would go to high-achieving Brazilian students - these 15 scholarships have a value of €375,000. Institutes of Technology Ireland and the Irish University Association also announced new scholarship schemes for Brazilian students.