Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 2 Feb 1994

Vol. 438 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Scrúdú Maoine do Dheontais Scoileanna Cónaithe.

Éamon Ó Cuív

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire Stáit as ucht teacht isteach agus éisteacht leis an achainí a bheidh á dhéanamh agam anseo. Go bunúsach baineann sé seo le scrúdú maoine a chuirtear ar dhaoine go bhfuil orthu a gcuid gasúr a chur ar scoileannna cónaithe.

I would like to thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to listen to my contribution. It relates to the means-testing of boarding grants for students who live outside the catchment area of a secondary school and who cannot be provided with day transport to that school. In the majority of these cases people either live in very isolated areas or on islands. The cost of living for people in these areas is already very high but, if their means are over a certain limit, they effectively have to pay for second level education and that is unacceptable.

At present somebody living on an island which does not have a secondary school, for example, Inis Meáin or Inishbofin, or students in fifth and sixth year in Inis Oírr, has to go to school on the mainland. They are eligible for a grant of £815 of the cost of boarding up to a limit of £1,600 per annum irrespective of means. However, the balance of the grant, which to a student attending a school which costs £1,650 would be £700, is subject to a means test limit of, I understand, £8,859 per annum with a small allowance of £291 per child.

As I pointed out, the cost of living, school costs etc. for people living in remote rural areas, and more particularly for those living on islands, are above normal. The fact that they will be subject to a stringent means test in the provision of free education must be questioned. When one considers that the cost of transport to and from these schools for these students is very high, education becomes a very expensive commodity.

For example, for a student living on Inis Meáin who goes home every three weeks, there is a round trip cost in excess of £20. That figure is per student because it involves plane flights. Furthermore, there is a difficulty for the people of Inishbofin where the students must board out. There are no local boarding schools and the students are normally required to live in digs.

This matter warrants urgent consideration. I accept that the number of people affected is small because very few people in these areas have an income in excess of £8,859. However, that is all the more reason for this problem being solved — it would not have a huge knock-on effect.

Will the Minister of State give urgent and serious consideration to this matter, ascertaining whether it would be possible to treat these students in the same way as those in the remainder of the country and given the opportunity of free second-level education?

Tá mé an-bhuíoch don Aire Stáit as ucht teacht isteach agus éisteacht liom. Tá fhios agam go dtuigeann sé tábhacht na gceantar tuaithe agus go speisialta tábhacht na n-oileán. Tuigeann sé freisin an tábhacht atá ann nach mbeadh láimh amháin an Stáit ag cur in éadan an pholasaí dearfa atá ag an Stáit chun daoine a choinneáil sna ceantair seo tríd an deis maireachtála céanna a thabhairt do dhaoine sna ceantair seo agus atá ag pobail i gceantair eile.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Aylward)

I appreciate Deputy Ó Cuív's concern in this matter. Unfortunately, in replying, I can deal only with the provisions of the scheme as they obtain at present. Probably it is a matter for further debate.

A remote area boarding grant was introduced in conjunction with the free education scheme in 1967. Grants are payable under this scheme in respect of pupils who attend a school providing suitable post-primary education and whose homes are outside the range of public transport services. In order to qualify for a boarding grant a student must be: (a) resident at least three miles from a recognised secondary, vocational or community and comprehensive school and from the pick-up point on a bus route to such a centre and (b) a recognised pupil in a secondary boarding school in which the boarding fee charged does not exceed the boarding fee limit as set down by the Department. This limit is £1,650 for the 1993-94 school year.

Pupils deemed eligible under the scheme would have automatic entitlement to (8/15ths) of the total boarding fee charged to parents. The balance — 7/15ths — of the grant is means-tested. Eligibility for receipt of this additional allowance is conditional on the parental income limit not exceeding £8,859 per annum with a further £291 for each dependent child after the first child.

The income limit caters for people on low incomes and is increased each year in line with inflation. Means-testing is a regular feature of grant schemes. I do not consider that people from remote areas are being discriminated against.

It should be borne in mind that the contribution of parents who do not qualify for the full grant is in respect of maintenance costs only. It is not levied for tuition costs as these are covered by the grants paid by the Department to schools under the free education scheme. Regard must also be had to the household savings occasioned by the absence from home of the pupils in question.

In recent years, the pattern of demand for boarding grants has been downwards. In the 1993-94 school year, 87 boarding or maintenance grants were awarded, of which 71 were to island pupils attending school on the mainland. Of these, 46 had full-cost grants.

I reiterate that I appreciate what Deputy Ó Cuív said. Perhaps it is a matter that should be discussed further at the appropriate time.