Conor Lenihan
Ceist:584 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Education and Science the plans, if any, he has to review the situation in relation to giving grant assistance to people attending full-time degree courses in private colleges. [9912/99]
Written Answers. - Higher Education Grants.
The higher education grants scheme operates under the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts, 1968 to 1992. The annual higher education grants scheme, which I approve, sets out a list of approved institutions for the purposes of the scheme. An approved institution is defined to mean a university, university college or other institution of higher education in so far as it provides a course or courses of not less than two years duration, being a course or courses which the Minister for Education and Science approves for the time being for the purposes of the Acts.
The approved institutions mainly comprise the publicly funded third level institutions. However, there are a number of religious and other institutions that have been admitted to the scheme over the year.
Any extension of the existing arrangements in relation to the scope of the scheme must be considered in the light of overall resource constraints and the competing demands within the education sector. My priorities in the area of student support have been to introduce a maintenance grants scheme for students attending plc courses in the current academic year and to address the position of mature students under the various grant schemes. In addition, funding is being targeted at significantly increasing the number of third level places.