Vol. 407 No. 2
88 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Education if, having regard to the anomaly in the law regarding the eligibility requirement for the higher education grant, she will consider changing the rules to accommodate students who sat the leaving certificate before 1990 as this anomaly is causing worry and anguish to the students and their families.
I am very pleased to have been able to correct in 1990 a long-standing anomaly by reducing the number of honours required from four to two, under the higher education grants scheme. This improvement was widely welcomed by all educational interests.
In years when there is an improvement in the scheme, it is normal to introduce and fund the improvement with effect from the year in question. If this particular improvement was backdated even to 1989 other students would have a justifiable claim that it should have backdated for two or more years.
