asked the Minister for Education whether her recent announcement relating to the income eligibility conditions for third level grants could be made retrospective to allow these conditions to apply to existing students whose parents may be marginally over the income limit.
Written Answers. - Higher Education Grant Eligibility.
364.
The income limits that apply to a candidate for a higher education grant are those of the scheme of the year he/she qualified for a grant on grounds of attainments by virtue of successes in the leaving certificate examination. Accordingly, the revised eligibility limits in the scheme for 1985 are not retrospective. They apply only to candidates who qualify academically in the leaving certificate this year (1985).
This has been the position since the inception of the scheme in 1968 and is regarded as being the most fair and equitable basis of administration of the scheme taking into account all the relevant considerations and circumstances.