Vol. 461 No. 7
38 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education her response to the decision on the part of the Northern Ireland Minister for Education to phase out support grants for Northern Ireland students attending private third-level colleges in the Republic; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3703/96]
I understand that the Northern Ireland Minister for Education has indicated that his decision in relation to these awards was due to general budgetary pressure and the increasing costs of the awards. He also indicated that the position of Northern Ireland students was anomalous as students in Great Britain do not receive awards to attend these institutions.
The Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment on this policy change effected by the Northern Ireland authorities for primarily budgetary reasons.
It is important, however, to note that the Northern Ireland Minister for Education has stated that his decision to stop funding students attending the private colleges does not imply any criticism of their standards.
