The millennium partnership fund for disadvantage is one of a number of access measures recommended in the 2001 report of the action group on access to third level education. Two other key recommendations were the establishment of a national office of equity of access to higher education and the introduction of special rates of maintenance, or top-up, grants. There have been significant developments in relation to both recommendations.
As the Deputy is aware, on 25 May I announced a package of measures costing €42 million in a full year to address the problem of disadvantage in third level education. The main provisions are: an increase of 15% in the maintenance grant, to give a maximum grant of €2,885 – this compares with €2,510 in 2002-03; significant increases in the reckonable income limits for purposes of the ordinary and special rates of grant; the introduction of a revised income limit scheme, to include the following threshold levels: (i) A new "part maintenance, 75% and full fees" and (ii) an upgrading of the "full fees only" income limit to become a "part maintenance, 25%, and full fees" entitlement; the top income limit has been increased from €36,897 to €40,000, ensuring that a significantly higher number of students from households with moderate incomes will not have to pay the student service charge; the higher, non-adjacent rate of the special rate of maintenance grant has been increased to €4,495 an amount equal to the maximum personal rate of social welfare unemployment assistance; the adjacent rate has been increased to €1,800. These increases represent top-ups on the ordinary grant of €1,610 and €645 respectively.
The action group report recommended an allocation of €1.27 million each year, for the millennium partnership fund, for the duration of the national development programme to 2006. This recommendation was implemented when the fund was introduced with effect from the 2001-02 academic year. However, for the 2002-03 academic year, I significantly increased the allocation to €2 million in recognition of the contribution being made by the partnerships and community groups to promoting participation from their areas in further and higher education. In the light of these developments and expenditure commitments, the provision of €2 million will continue to be made in respect of the millennium partnership fund for 2003.
The allocation of funding as between the various measures aimed at increasing access to third level education will, however, be kept under review within my Department.