Vol. 548 No. 2
404 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason children of parents who are in receipt of non-contributory pensions are not entitled to be approved for the third level top-up grant while children of parents in receipt of contributory pensions will qualify for payment; and his plans to change this anomaly in the grant scheme. [4207/02]
The report of the action group on access to third level education makes detailed recommendations concerning the introduction of special rates of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students, usually referred to as ‘top-up' grants.
The action group considered that the target group of those most in need could best be defined in terms of the child dependants of people receiving long-term welfare payments, in respect of whom continued child dependant allowance is being paid, by virtue of their being in full-time education – that is, child dependants in the age group 18 to 22. The action group recommended that the special rates of maintenance grant should also be available to mature students, that is students ages 23 and over.
