I have no difficulty in reassuring the Deputy that the scheme will be reviewed. For the sake of the students, as well as the Minister and the officials, it is very important that that be done. It is certainly not the intention of the Department of Education to have a case such as this on the debating table in the week when the universities reopen. There are two kinds of scholarship, the trí-Ghaeilge and the Gaeltacht, but there is a good deal of confusion as between the two.
Trí Ghaeilge scholarships are awarded to people living in the Gaeltacht and can be taken up in the pursuance of a course in whatever discipline one wishes. They apply only to pupils who pursue university courses trí Ghaeilge and were available in University College Galway and in Colaiste Mhuire, Marino. I agree that the question of the range of courses and the institutions at which they may be pursued is a big constraint. Earlier, I signalled that there would be a review in the Department of the two scholarship schemes because, although five students were facilitated through this scheme because they could find ex-quota places in Galway University, there are many other people who believe they should have been able to take up the scholarships at other universities. There is an anomaly here. I would prefer not to have to be accommodating but to review the practice and the rules so that everybody, regardless of whether they know Deputy Quill or know the Minister for Education, will know their entitlements and be in a position to take up the places they have won. I congratulate the students referred to and also the other three who have been brought to our notice and who wish to pursue the study of medicine trí-Ghaeilge in Galway University.
