Vol. 443 No. 2
95 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Education is she will refer to Question No. 390 of 6 October 1993 from Deputy N. Ahern regarding higher education grants for students under 23 years who achieve a third level degree place based on achieving a national certificate or national diploma; and if a decision has since been made on the issue.
The Deputy will be pleased to learn that I made arrangements under the 1993 Vocational Education Committee's scholarships scheme to facilitate students who obtained a place on a degree course and who had been awarded a National Certificate/National Diploma but who did not meet the Leaving Certificate requirement for either grants or scholarships schemes.
As a result all such students seeking third level grant assistance in the 1993/94 academic year received grant aid under the VEC scholarship scheme subject to meeting the means test and other requirements.
The recently issued third level student support schemes for 1994 accommodate such students under the higher education grants scheme as well as under the vocational education committee's scholarships scheme.
