In 1996, the student support schemes were extended to provide maintenance grants to undergraduate students pursuing approved third level courses in other EU member states. Prior to this, grants were only payable to students who were pursuing approved courses in the Republic and Northern Ireland. In general, the approved courses in other EU member states are full-time undergraduate courses of not less than two years duration, pursued in a university or third level institution, which is maintained or assisted by recurrent grants from public funds. There are however a number of excepted courses including those in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and teacher training courses, including those leading to the award of bachelor of education, on the basis that these courses in Ireland were subject to a quota based on policy decisions on the appropriate levels of graduate output.
I announced, late last year, that I was setting up a special project team to carry out a comprehensive review of every aspect of the maintenance grants, and other student supports, to ensure their relevance to the needs of present day third level students. This review will include the level of grants, the methods by which they are paid, eligibility and income limits, accommodation needs, student support services, the most suitable paying agency, the provision of an appeals system, student loans and taxation measures. In this context, issues which figure prominently in representations about student support, including the issue raised by the Deputy, will also be examined by the team. I will consider the appropriate response when I receive the team's report.
