asked the Minister for Education if she will authorise the inclusion of the study of catheology by catechetic students as part of the arts degree course so that students studying theology as part of their course to become a catechetic teacher can benefit from higher education grants from which they are at present exempted.
Written Answers. - Higher Education Grants.
501.
The first paragraph of sub-section (4) of section 7 of the Irish Universities Act, 1908, is as follows:
"(4) Any sums paid under this section shall be applied by the governing body of the university or college, as the case may be, in accordance with their charter or statutes, but no such sum shall be applied for the provision or maintenance of any church, chapel, or other place of religious worship or observance, or for the provision or maintenance of any theological or religious teaching or study".
The Minister for Education has no function in relation to the specification of the contents of a university degree in Arts.
502.
asked the Minister for Education if she will increase the income limit for a higher education grant where a number of members of the same family are attending third level institutions and where severe financial hardship is caused to the family in an effort to put a number of members through third-level education.
In accordance with the provisions of the higher education grants scheme the means of a candidate and his-her parents or guardians, and the number of dependent children in the family up to a maximum of six are taken into consideration for the purposes of the means test prescribed in the scheme. Members of the family who are attending full-time courses of third-level education are accepted as dependent children and are thus taken into consideration for the purposes of the means test.