asked the Minister for Education if he will lay down a standard for entrants to regional technical colleges which will entitle such entrants to payment of grants.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Regional Technical Colleges.
46.
There is no legislative provision enabling me to give grants to students at regional technical colleges. Vocational education committees have statutory power to give student assistance in the form of scholarships and I have sanctioned the establishment by vocational education committees of scholarships tenable at courses in the regional technical colleges.
47.
asked the Minister for Education the number of scholarships available for courses at regional technical colleges in 1973-74 which were not availed of; and the vocational education committees involved.
48.
asked the Minister for Education the number of first year scholarships awarded to regional technical colleges for 1973-74.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 48 together.
Final statistics in relation to these matters are not yet available from all the vocational education committees and, accordingly, I am not yet in a position to furnish the Deputy with the information requested. I expect to be able to do so in about a month's time.
Are we to take it from the Parliamentary Secretary's reply that he expects there will be unexpended moneys under the scholarships scheme? If that is so, I know some committees who will be glad to hear it so that they may use the moneys which other committees do not seem to want.
I do not think that that can be inferred from the reply but it may be the case.
If there are not any surplus moneys in any of these areas there should be no difficulty in giving that reply today but the Parliamentary Secretary must be expecting moneys to be unexpended in some areas.
As I said, the final statistics in relation to these matters are not yet available and, therefore, it would be premature for anyone to say whether there are moneys available.
So as not to raise the hopes of committees such as the one of which I am a member, which have not nearly enough money for scholarships, should the Parliamentary Secretary not be prepared to say that there is a likelihood of moneys being unexpended?
The matter is becoming argumentative.
Not at all.
If the position is found to be as the Deputy suggests, what he has said will be taken into consideration.
We would prefer to know the position now and not be kept waiting while there is too much money in some areas and not enough in others.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary say whether any of the scholarships that have been sanctioned by his Department have been granted to students following courses through the medium of Irish in a regional technical college?
I have no reason to believe that that is not the case but I have not available to me here the information that would enable me to answer the question. Therefore, I would require notice of the question in order to be able to answer the Deputy in detail.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the Department have refused to sanction applications for scholarships on behalf of students taking the business studies course through the medium of Irish at the Galway Regional Technical College?
I am not so aware but the Deputy will appreciate that there is no reason why I should have had that information having regard to the question that was tabled.
Is this not a disgraceful situation?
If what the Deputy says is the position, I can assure him the matter will be looked into.