Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 October 2004
123 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Education and Science if an application for a higher education grant for a person (details supplied) in County Galway will be approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24754/04]
View answerThe decision on eligibility for maintenance grants is a matter for the relevant local authority or VEC. These bodies do not refer individual applications to my Department except in exceptional cases where, for example, advice or instruction about a particular clause in the relevant scheme is desired.
Under the terms of the Department's maintenance grants scheme, a mature student is defined as a candidate who is at least 23 years of age on 1 January of the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course. When assessing the means of students other than independent mature students, the means test provision of the scheme specifies that 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 an independent mature student. As the student to whom the Deputy refers was not 23 on 1 January of the year of entry to third level education, she must therefore be assessed by reference to parent(s) income.
The other student support schemes have similar provisions with regard to the means assessment of students. The Deputy will appreciate that the terms of the scheme are of general application and it is not open to me to make exceptions in individual cases.
