Vol. 443 No. 4
62 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education the estimated average annual cost to parents financing one of their children at a third level college where they do not qualify for grant aid; her views on whether hardship is involved in many such instances, especially for parents with more than one child at college; the proposals, if any, she has to alleviate such hardship; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Figures on the lines requested by the Deputy are not available within my Department. The purpose of the third level student support schemes is to facilitate access to third level for students who because of low personal or parental income would not normally be able to support their attendance at third level.
In 1992 major changes were made to the income limits applicable under the third level student support schemes. The limits were increased by 40 per cent which, for example, enabled a family with one to three dependent children to qualify for a grant of full fees and maintenance on an income of £15,000 compared with the previous income limit of £10,787. These limits were further increased by 3.4 per cent in 1993 and 5.4 per cent in the 1994 schemes. These increases represent significant improvements in the third level student support arrangements.
