Vol. 469 No. 3
151 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork is not receiving a full maintenance grant under the higher education grants scheme in view of the fact that she travelled to Cork in the first instance to participate in a BA degree in early childhood studies at UCC. [17441/96]
152 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork is not receiving a full maintenance grant under the higher education grants scheme in view of the fact that she travelled to Cork in the first instance to participate in a BA degree in early childhood studies at UCC. [17442/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 152 together.
It is understood from the relevant local authorities that the students in question are independent mature students whose addresses for the purposes of attending college are within 15 miles of the college. In such circumstances they are entitled only to the adjacent rate of maintenance grant. Where an independent mature student can produce evidence that s/he is maintaining a residence other than his/her address while attending college it is open to the local authority to regard that address as the normal residence and to award a non-adjacent maintenance grant.
