asked the Minister for Education the percentage increase in the maintenance component of higher education grants over the past three years; and the percentage increase in the cost of living over the same period.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Higher Education Grants.
68.
Since higher education grants are lump-sum grants, and since fees vary from one institution to another and from one faculty to another, there is no identifiable maintenance component in the grants.
Would the Minister explain what he means by that? For every faculty there is a fee and, deducting the fee, what is left is the maintenance element and that element changes in accordance with the amount of the grant and the amount of the fee. Why could the Minister not answer the question?
The question is to ask the Minister the percentage increase in maintenance components of higher education grants over the past three years and the percentage increase in the cost of living over the same period. The point I am making is that the maintenance component differs——
Of course.
——in the various faculties and the fee differs in the various faculties.
Naturally. Would the Minister give a weighted average figure and, if he has any difficulty in calculating that, would he give us the figure for each faculty?
I do not see the point of this.
Has there been any change at all in the maintenance grants? Is it not a fact that the cost of living has gone up by 27 per cent?
This is what the Deputy was looking for obviously in his question and not what Deputy FitzGerald wants me to answer.
Can the Minister answer my question?
Has the Minister not told me that the maintenance element is, in fact, unchanged because the grant has been modified by the amount of the fees and there is no change in the maintenance element though the cost of living has gone up by 27 per cent? Is that not the case? Why could the Minister not say that?
Question No. 69 postponed.