Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 May 2004
140 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Education and Science the status of the appeal made to his Department against the decision to award a VEC grant to a person (details supplied) in County Wexford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15819/04]
View answerNo appeal has been made by the candidate to my Department but County Wexford VEC has confirmed to officials in my Department that it has received an application from this candidate seeking to be assessed as an independent mature student.
Under the Department's student support schemes, generally speaking, students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for maintenance grants where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to age, residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment. A mature candidate means a candidate who is at least 23 years of age on 1 January of the year of entry to an approved course. Mature candidates are then categorised as either independent mature candidates or mature candidates dependent on parents. An independent mature candidate is defined to mean a mature candidate who was not ordinarily resident at home with his or her parents/guardians from 1 October preceding their entry to an approved course. Independent mature candidates are assessed without reference to either their parents' or guardians' income or address.
In the absence of conclusive proof of independent residence, a candidate will be assessed as a dependent mature candidate. As such, the candidate's reckonable income shall be that of the candidate and of the candidate's parents or guardians. In order to assess such a candidate's eligibility for a maintenance grant, a dependent mature candidate must supply the VEC with details of his/her income and details of his/her parent's income.
