Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 9 Jun 1993

Vol. 432 No. 1

Written Answers. - Third Level Grant Anomaly.

Proinsias De Rossa

Question:

88 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the anomaly in the third level grant system which means that a student with pre-1989 Leaving Certificates needs four honours for transfer from a Regional College to a degree course in a University, while those with post-1989 certificates need only two honours, while a student who obtains a Regional College Diploma and is accepted into the second year of a degree course does not qualify for grants; and if she intends to eliminate these obstacles to students from low income families advancing through the third level system.

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

The terms of the third level student support schemes do not require differing academic attainments on transfer from a Regional Technical College to a University degree course, and I am not aware of such an anomaly in the treatment of any individual cases. However, if the Deputy wishes to supply particulars of any such cases I shall be happy to have them investigated.

Currently, a student who has completed a course at sub-degree level in a Regional Technical College and who transfer to a degree course in a University is subject to the terms of either the 1992 Higher Education Grants Scheme or the relevant vocational education committee scholarship scheme. These schemes stipulate that such a student must have attained a Grade C or Higher Level Papers in two or more subjects in the Leaving Certificate Examination, irrespective of the year in which she sat that examination.

On the issue of a student with a Regional Technical College Diploma who is accepted into the second year of a degree course, I wish to explain that for the purpose of payment of grant the student is required to obtain exemption from either the first or the first and second years of the degree programme depending on whether the course previously followed was at Certificate or Diploma level. The grant is then payable in respect of each of the additional years necessary for the completion of the degree.

The schemes are currently under review and I am committed — within the constraints of Exchequer resources — to the elimination of inequities and anomalies from them. In that regard I have set up an Expert Advisory Group to recommend appropriate criteria for means assessment and to make proposals for the most effective and efficient organisational arrangements for the administration of the schemes.