Gerry Reynolds
Ceist:370 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Education and Science if a person (details supplied) in County Leitrim will be entitled to a mature student's grant for attending a masters degree course. [28252/00]
Written Answers. - Higher Education Grants.
Under the terms of the higher education grants scheme, operated under the aegis of my Department, financial assistance by way of a maintenance grant and a grant towards lecture fees, is provided for eligible students attending full-time post-graduate courses of not less than one year's duration in approved institutions, including those in Northern Ireland.
The amount of lecture fee payable under these schemes is subject to a maximum fee limit, approved by the Minister for Education and Science. The maximum fee limit for the 2000-01 academic year is IR£3,064. Where students, attending approved courses, qualify for assistance towards tuition fees, the fees are paid directly by the local authority to the college, on receipt of an invoice from the college. In the case of students pursuing their studies in colleges in Northern Ireland, the value of the grant towards fees is converted into sterling at the prevailing exchange rate and this amount is paid to the college. Any remaining balance must be paid by the student himself-herself.
The full non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant, payable to students for the 2000-01 academic year, is IR£1,775. In December 1999, in response to a number of representations, local authorities were advised that grant-holders should be given the option of having their grant paid either in Irish punts or in the currency of the country in which they are studying, the value of the Irish punts having been converted into the currency of the country in question. This concession allows students studying in Northern Ireland or the UK to receive their grants in Irish punts rather than sterling if they so wish.
My officials have made inquiries from the University of Ulster, Jordanstown, the university in question, and it is understood that the cost of tuition fees of the master of science degree in physiotherapy, for the 2000-01 academic year, is £2,740 sterling. This full-time course is an approved course for the purpose of the higher education grants scheme.
My Department understands that the student, to whom the Deputy refers, will complete the bachelor of science degree in physiotherapy at Limerick University in the 2000-01 academic year and that she has been in receipt of a higher education grant for the duration of her studies. Under the terms of the higher education grants scheme, a grant-holder, who is in receipt of a higher education grant to pursue an undergraduate course, may have the grant continued in order to pursue an approved course at post-graduate level, subject to the terms and conditions of the scheme. Accordingly, the student should contact Leitrim County Council, in due course, for the purpose of having her eligibility for grant assistance, in respect of her post-graduate studies, assessed.