Vol. 536 No. 5
351 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will approve a third level grant for a person (details supplied) in County Waterford now that he is no longer living at home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14691/01]
Under the terms of the third level maintenance grants scheme for trainees, mature students are categorised as either independent mature students or mature students dependent on parents. An independent mature student is defined to mean a mature student who was not ordinarily resident at home with his or her parents from 1 October preceding their entry to an approved course. Independent mature students are deemed to be self-supporting and are assessed without reference to either their parents' income or address.
When assessing the means of students, other than independent mature students, the students' means and those of their parents or guardians must be below a prescribed limit. This provision requires that parental income be taken into account, irrespective of the individual circumstances, in any case where the student is not categorised as an independent mature student.
Waterford Vocational Education Committee, the body charged with administering the scheme in this case, has confirmed that the student in question was ordinarily resident with his parents from 1 October prior to entering his course at Waterford Institute of Technology, in the 1999-2000 academic year. Accordingly, he must be assessed as a mature candidate dependent on his parents. As the reckonable income in this case exceeds the prescribed income limits under the scheme, he has been deemed ineligible for a maintenance grant.
As the schemes of student support are of general application, it is not open to me to make an exception in individual cases.
