Vol. 490 No. 5
320 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Education and Science if a higher education grant will be paid to a person who has already completed a degree in psychoanalysis and who wishes to undertake a new degree in science in October 1998; if not, if he will amend the scheme to facilitate these applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10735/98]
Under the terms of the higher education grants scheme grants shall not be paid to candidates who already hold an undergraduate degree and are pursuing a second undergraduate degree. The student in question already holds an undergraduate degree and is therefore ineligible to receive a higher education grant in respect of a further period of study at the same level. A similar situation pertains in the rules governing a student's eligibility to have tuition fees paid under the criteria for the Exchequer payment in respect of full time undergraduate fees. I believe it is necessary to target available resources towards assisting as many students as possible to attain a third level qualification. Any proposal to extend the scope of the student support schemes would have to have regard to overall resource constraints and other competing needs in the education sector.
