Vol. 475 No. 1
207 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Education if she will review the regulations covering both higher education and ESF grants to take account of the considerable hardship on family finances arising from financial settlements for separating parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4254/97]
Under the terms of the third level student support schemes, candidates' reckonable income for the purposes of the means test is their gross income from all sources and the gross income of their parents or guardians where applicable. Where a candidate's parents are separated, only the income of the parent with whom the candidate resides is assessed. Furthermore, any maintenance paid by a parent to their separated spouse is disregarded when assessing that parent's income.
