asked the Minister for Education is she has plans to introduce legislation to correct the anomaly in the means test provision of the higher education grant system, especially in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 14.
Written Answers. - Higher Education Grant System.
66.
The applicant referred to in the question holds the leaving certificate of 1980. The higher education grants scheme or VEC scholarships scheme, including the means test tables, applicable in the case of a candidate for a grant or scholarship is the scheme of the year he/she sits for the leaving certificate examination. The person in question applied for a scholarship to the City of Dublin VEC in 1985. However, the scholarships scheme of 1980 specified that awards would be made by reference to an order of merit based on the results of the leaving certificate examination of that year and as the applicant did not compete for an award in 1980 he is not eligible for consideration for scholarship assistance at this stage. No anomaly exists in either scheme; applicants are bound by all the conditions of the scheme, including means test, of the year in which they satisfy the academic attainments required by achieving prescribed successes in the leaving certificate examination.