asked the Minister for Education when her detailed review of the higher education grants scheme will be completed; and if it is her intention to make the findings public.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Higher Education Grants.
20.
The higher education grants scheme is subject to annual ongoing review and is also subject to amendment in the light of such review. Apart from this ongoing review a more detailed review by an interdepartmental committee of the criteria for assessment of eligibility on grounds of means under the higher education and related grant schemes has been presented to me. When I have fully considered the findings of the interdepartmental review group I shall be presenting proposals to Government for whatever changes in the scheme that are deemed necessary. Changes in the scheme that may arise from the review group recommendations will of course be made public.
That is good enough but I wish to ask the Minister, in the light of what she has said, if she will be making the findings of that body available to the Dáil for discussion. How soon can we see changes being brought about in the grants system that will eliminate the present anomaly where families who can well afford to send their children to college have been able to exploit the system to get grants for their children whereas families who are not in a position to pay have been excluded from grants and also the children of families who live in certain geographical areas of the country have been excluded from third level education because they are not clever enough to exploit the system, as has been done by others in years past? How soon will the Minister be tackling that problem and putting it right?
The report must first of all go to Government. It is an interdepartmental and not an outside body report. Any changes which the Government deem to be necessary in the higher education grants scheme will of course be made public when we make our decision.
How soon can we see changes in the system?
The findings of the interdepartment group make interesting reading. I hope changes will be made as quickly as possible.
Will the changes be made in time for the start of the next academic year?
No.
That is disappointing.
That disposes of questions for today.
(Limerick East): I wish to ask a supplementary.
I would not dream of denying the Deputy that privilege.
(Limerick East): Arising from the Minister's reply I would like to ask her if it is now common practice for her Department to request the files from local authorities and reverse refusal decisions, in what appears on the face of it to be a most biased fashion, on individual cases? Could the Minister provide us with information on how many files have been sought on higher education grants and how many times decisions have been reversed?
The Deputy is raising a particular matter.
I do not have the files with me. Is it that about which the Deputy is inquiring?
(Limerick East): I am asking if the Minister has information to the effect that local authority decisions on higher education grants, where refusals have occurred, are now being reversed by her Department.
I do not have the list with me of any reversals or otherwise.
(Limerick East): I am not asking for the list. I am trying to establish whether this practice is being carried out at ministrial level or at administrative level. Is the Minister aware of the practice?
What is the Deputy alleging is being done?
This is worthy of a separate question. We are entering into a new area now.
(Limerick East): There are certain cases which have been refused for higher education grants——
By the local authority.
(Limerick East): Appeals have been made to the Minister's Department and decisions have been reversed in a manner which seems to be biased.
I take the point of view that the county councils and the VEC committees are the relevant subagents of the Department of Education for so doing but the provisions of the Act allow, as the Deputy knows, for an appeal to the Department in very rare cases. We applaud the local authorities and the VEC Committees for the very observant and rigorous way in which they are carrying out their inquiries into the means testing process of the parents or guardians of the applicants. The Act allows for such a direct appeal but it is utilised very rarely in my Department.
That disposes of questions for today.
(Limerick East): I will be putting down a question to establish how frequently it arises.
If the Deputy looks back over the record of the previous Government he will see how often it arose.
Order, Deputy Birmingham indicated earlier that he wished to raise a question.
I want to raise two matters which I sought to raise earlier, and would have done within a matter of seconds, relating to the conduct and the organisation of Question Time today. The first matter I want to raise is that a priority question of mine was ruled out of order and I received notice of that only today. My understanding was that you sought to give notice, as a matter of course, in sufficient time to allow a Member to nominate a question that he had tabled as an ordinary question for priority in those circumstances. I have to express my disappointment about that.
If the Deputy had communicated with my office this matter could have been resolved quite easily.
I only received communication from your office at 10.30 or 11 o'clock this morning.
I shall have to look into that aspect of the matter.
Can I expect to hear from you in regard to this?
Indeed.
The second matter I wish to raise relates to the letter in my possession from Bus Eireann to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in which they state categorically that school transport services cannot be provided without redundancies. It is the contents of that letter that I wish to raise on the Adjournment.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
May I repeat my request of yesterday, to raise the matter of the extradition of Paul Anthony Kane on the Adjournment? I should like to say to the House, and the Ceann Comhairle, that this is a matter of the gravest concern and one which does not really brook delay. While I bow to the wisdom of the Chair in using his discretion I plead with him today to allow this matter to be aired in the House because it has many, many implications.
I will communicate with the Deputy in respect of that matter.
I seek permission to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of my priority question that ought to have been dealt with today. A matter of extreme importance is referred to in that question. The subject matter is of grave concern to many young people whose educational futures and careers are at stake. The question ought to be discussed in the House.
I will communicate with the Deputy. I should like to point out that the Chair strove earnestly to have the Deputy's question answered but was frustrated in his endeavours.
I should like to appeal to the other Members to please withdraw their questions, urgent though they may consider them, and allow the matter I have raised to be discussed today.
If we withdraw our questions will Deputy Blaney tell us more about his discussion with the Taoiseach?