Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 October 2009
389 Deputy Seymour Crawford asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason a person (details supplied) is being asked to submit their parent’s income to have their application for a Vocational Education Committee education grant considered; if he will rectify this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34936/09]
View answerUnder the student maintenance grant schemes, students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for financial assistance where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to residence, means, age, nationality and previous academic attainment.
A mature student is defined as a candidate who is at least 23 years of age on the 1st January of the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course. Mature students are then 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/her parents from the 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.
The Student Support Bill will provide the Minister with the power to regulate for different classes of applicants. This power would enable me, if there are compelling reasons and adequate resources to do so, to consider extending the circumstances where a student could be assessed without reference to parental income.
My Department is currently reviewing the circumstances where a means assessment independent of parental income would be appropriate and in the context of the Programme of legislative and administrative reform of student grants and the development of a new unified scheme of student support, is undertaking further consultation on this and related matters with a view to establishing the particular circumstances where assessment as an independent student might be warranted.
Any extension of the provision of assessment as an independent student will have to be carefully considered to ensure it is highly targeted at very specific circumstances where students can demonstrate that they have been genuinely self-supporting and living independently for a number of years.
