Vol. 541 No. 2
1104 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason persons on unemployment assistance or unemployment benefit have not been paid the top-up of £1,200 on the VTOS maintenance grant; if this inequity will be reviewed urgently; and if the top-up will be paid retrospectively to the persons concerned. [21807/01]
In September 2000, I established the action group on access to third level education to advise me on the most effective ways to increase participation by disadvantaged groups at third level. The group's report makes detailed recommendations concerning the introduction of special rates of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students.
The special rates are payable only where a student is already in receipt of a maintenance grant under one of the following means tested schemes – the higher education grants scheme, the vocational education committees' scholarship scheme, third level maintenance grants scheme for trainees; and maintenance grants scheme for students attending post-leaving certificate courses. The special rates of maintenance grant are not applicable in cases where a student holds a VTOS payment only.
Eligibility criteria for the special rates of maintenance grant are based on recommendations made by the action group. In order to target those most in need, eligibility is confined to students where family income comes from long-term social welfare payments or from specific schemes such as the community employment scheme. Unemployment benefit and the short-term rate of unemployment assistance are not, however, approved payments for the purpose of determining eligibility for the special rates of grant.
The eligibility requirements for the special rates of maintenance grant will be reviewed on an ongoing basis with a view to extending eligibility. A first step will be to assess the coverage and effectiveness of the implementation of the special rates in this first year of operation.
