Máirín Quill
Ceist:17 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education the changes, if any, she intends to make in the administration of third-level grants for 1995; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2607/95]
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Third Level Grants.
The report of the advisory committee on third level student support was published on 25 January 1995. Prior to publication and following the recommendations in the report the following improvements in the administration of student support were announced and implemented in 1994: the requirement of separate academic attainments for the award of a third level grant was abolished; applicants who have secured a place on an approved third level course are now deemed to have automatically satisfied the academic requirements; new rules have been introduced for second-chance cases; for the first time students who dropped out of college can qualify for a grant to study at the same level as they studied previously after an interval of five years; the provision of a special budget to assist students at college who are encountering financial hardship; and the issue of the student support schemes at the end of April 1994 which was months earlier than the date they were issued in previous years.
The changes considerably improved the service to students and their families. Prior also to the publication of the report decisions in principle to implement the following recommendations were announced in 1994: the processing of grant application and payment by the Central Application Office; transfer of the means test to the Revenue Commissioners; and transfer of the appeals function from the Minister for Education to the Appeals Commissioner under tax law.
These administrative changes which have been agreed in principle are complex and far-reaching and a considerable amount of detailed planning work is required. I have decided not to proceed with their implementation for 1995-96. The higher education grants schemes, the vocational education committee scholarships schemes and the ESF grants scheme will therefore issue this year, as they did last year, by the end of April and the existing organisational arrangement for processing and paying grants in 1995 will therefore remain the same as in previous years.
I will be giving further consideration to the other recommendations in the report of the advisory committee.
I am deeply disappointed that the system for the processing and payment of grants will remain the same for 1995 as in previous years. Will the Minister accept that one of the key shortcomings in the system is the delay in making payments? Is she aware of the extreme hardship visited on grant aided students who are forced to commence college year after year without their grant moneys being paid in advance? In many cases the grant moneys are not made available until well into and sometimes close to the end of the first term in college. As a result students or their parents are forced to go to credit unions and banks to borrow money to enable them to buy text books and essential equipment to enable students to start college. Is there any good reason students should not know in advance of their leaving certificate results whether they are eligible for grants? It is a huge problem for grant aided students.
Brevity please, Deputy.
It is pathetic to see the degree of poverty visited on grant aided students who simply cannot provide the money to buy books to commence their third level education.
I agree with the Deputy. A decision in principle has been taken to process grant applications and payment by the Central Applications Office. There is much planning involved in this. The committee heard submissions from interested parties including the vocational education committee and the local council who deal mainly with the grants.
I was asked to issue the scheme early to facilitate decision making. While the scheme was delivered in April rather than July or August, as in previous years, I do not have the evidence to hand to suggest that the plight of individual students improved as a consequence. The de Buitléir report recommended a much earlier announcement. This area involves people with many different interests and we have to ensure that what we put in place is something to which students will have easy access. We envisage that applications for places and for grants could be made around the same time. I have to be careful that in centralising the processing of grant and payment applications I am putting in place a system to which students will have easy access.
Because this is a complex area and a considerable amount of work remains to be done, the existing schemes will issue by the end of April, as in previous years, and we will continue to plan to implement three administrative proposals which were agreed in principle: central processing, transfer of the means test to the Revenue Commissioners and transfer of the appeals function from the Minister for Education to the Appeal Commissioners under tax law. Those recommendations have been agreed in principle but have to be formulated for easy delivery.
If there was one issue to which I expected the Minister would address herself this year, it was the issue of making payments on time so that grant aided students would have their grant money in advance of the commencement of the college term. The Minister in her reply has talked about other interests and interests she has to take into account. I respectfully suggest to the Minister that the interest of the students and their parents and the means of the students and parents will have to take primacy over every other interest. Will she acknowledge that there is no good reason the system cannot be changed to a centralised system which would enable the grant moneys — taxpayer's money, voted by taxpayers to help students who cannot afford to pay their own college fees — to be paid to students on time to enable them to make a good start in their college career? It is disgraceful that the Minister has not addressed herself to progressing that change——
The Deputy is making a speech. We are eroding valuable Question Time.
It is a serious question.
Fewer Deputies will be accommodated.
It is a serious question. Will the Minister examine it again?
We will have to insist on brevity.
My primary concern is for the student. I have to be assured that a centralised system for the processing of grant applications and payment will facilitate students and parents. I am very conscious of my responsibility in that area. This is a complex issue and rather than create uncertainty about this year's schemes I would prefer if they operated as previously and to address the issue of centralising the processing of grant applications and payment so that we have a system that responds to students' needs. That cannot be achieved this year unless we push the grants scheme back to August. The small step I took last year by bringing the scheme forward to April benefited students but I do not have the evidence to confirm that.
Last year's position remains, but that does not suggest the work in responding to the administrative recommendations in the report stops. The work will continue and students do not have to worry. I have responsibility to ensure the recommendations on the administration side will be implemented and the measures put in place to benefit the student.
Given the Minister's numerous references to the de Buitléir report and the administration of the third level grant scheme, will she agree it is very important that we have a full debate in this House on that report and will she request the Government to agree to such a debate?
I note the Deputy's request.
I did not ask that it be noted.
The Deputy raised this matter in the House recently and the Chief Whip said he had received no such request. We note the request.
A request was made by the Fianna Fáil Whip and he received a negative reply from the Government Whip. Does the Minister agree we need a full debate in the House on this matter?
I note the Deputy's request and I am pleased Members on the Opposition benches want to discuss the de Buitléir report.
Does the Minister agree on the need for a debate in this House on the de Buitléir report? Yes or no?
If the Deputy feels there is need for such a debate the request will be responded to. I would welcome such a debate.
The previous Government buried it for long enough.
The Minister held office in the last Government.
We have been here only seven weeks.
Does the Minister realise this is a serious issue? As a Labour Party Minister she will be more aware of this matter than anybody else. It is more than a year since the de Buitléir report was published and the Minister has refused to give a view on some aspects of it. Will she accept that progress in implementing the recommendations on administration has been inordinately slow? When will those recommendations be implemented in full?
I welcome this debate. I am glad the report is now in the public domain and discussion of it will allow me meet a commitment of the new Government on restructuring of grants and means of third level students. The findings of the report will certainly help chart the way forward in delivering on that commitment.
When will the recommendations be implemented?
The report was published more than a year ago.
All I have heard from the Minister today is talk about steps here and steps there. The danger we perceive is that there are so many steps the Minister will stumble and nothing will be done. Information technology is available to us and the report was published more than a year ago but absolutely nothing has been done to improve the position, which is disastrous for many students. There are some students in colleges who have yet to receive their grants.
That is right.
That is a scandal that will have to be addressed. The Minister has been in Government for two or three years——
We must proceed by way of question only.
——and no improvement has been made. It is about time this matter was centralised and it should be done this year rather than waiting for the next school year.
We are moving forward on this matter. I have read into the record of the House, not only today but on many previous occasions, the improvements that have been put in place. Major improvements have been put in place on the administrative side. I have to be confident that when we centralise an issue it will benefit the students involved and will be accessible to them.
Obviously the present system is not benefiting the students.
Deputy Quill for a brief concluding question. We have spent much time on this question.
Rightly so because it is a very important issue. Has the Minister information on the number of students who commenced college in October and were still awaiting their grants in December? What caused the delay and how many students are affected by it?
As I indicated, I do not have specific information on this matter but I have anecdotal evidence which shows that some local authorities are able to clear the applications very quickly. I was surprised at the one or two people who approached me about the matter. In dealing with my constituents, fewer people approached me on the matter in the run-up to last Christmas. The grants seem to have been issued earlier but there are complicating circumstances.
We are efficient in Dún Laoghaire.
Some authorities deal with the matter quickly while others have greater difficulties. The information cannot be supplied on a county basis because the questions were not put down. When the information is available to me I will share it with the Deputy.