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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2003

Vol. 571 No. 1

Written Answers. - Higher Education Grants.

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

588 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has satisfied himself with the assistance that his Department offers to third level students from poor backgrounds who do not reside in designated areas of disadvantage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20476/03]

My Department operates three means-tested maintenance grant schemes for students attending third level education as follows: the higher education grants scheme, the vocational education committees' scholarship scheme and the third level maintenance grants scheme for trainees. The higher education grants scheme is administered by the local authorities; the other two schemes are administered by the vocational education committees and, in the case of the third level trainees scheme, assisted by the institutes of technology. The cost of the three schemes in 2002 was €120 million. Students who are entering approved courses for the first time are normally eligible for grants where they satisfy the relevant conditions regarding age, residence, means and nationality. My Department also meets the tuition fees of eligible students who are attending approved full-time undergraduate courses. The cost of this provision in 2002 was €240 million.

My Department has responsibility for promoting access and participation opportunities for students in higher education and on PLC courses. Under the social inclusion measures in the national development plan, there is provision for a third level access fund totalling €121 million, over the period 2000 to 2006, aimed at tackling under-representation by three target groups: students from disadvantaged backgrounds, mature students, students with disabilities. The report of the action group on access to third level education, published in 2001, sets out a blueprint for the development of a co-ordinated framework to promote access. The third level access fund comprises the following funds-measures: special rates of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students, the ESF-aided student assistance fund, the ESF-aided fund for students with disabilities; the ESF-aided millennium partnership fund for disadvantage.
Since 1997, spending on third level access measures funded directly by the Department of Education and Science has been increased from €500,000 million to €24 million in 2002. By any standards this represents a quantum leap in the commitment of resources. The provision for 2003 is €26 million, an increase of €2 million, 8%, on the 2002 outturn.
I was pleased to announce, on 25 May 2003, a new package of measures costing €42 million in a full year to further address and ameliorate the problems facing students from low to moderate income households in accessing third level education. This package combines substantial improvements in the level and coverage of the maintenance grant for those on low to moderate incomes, with increases in the level of "top-up" grant for those who are most disadvantaged. The main provisions arising from the €42 million package are: an increase of 15% in the maintenance grant, to give a maximum grant of €2,885, benefiting, it is estimated, approximately 56,000 students; significant increases in the reckonable income limits and in the allowance by which the income limits may be increased for each dependant where two or more children are in further or higher education; the introduction of a revised income limit schema, to include the following threshold levels; (i) a new "part maintenance, 75%, and full fees", (ii) an upgrading of the "full fees only" income limit to become a "part maintenance, 25%, and full fees" entitlement.
The top income limit has been increased from €36,897 to €40,000, ensuring that a significantly higher number of students from households with moderate incomes will not have to pay the student service charge; significant improvements have been effected in the special rates of maintenance grant, or "top-up grants", for students from disadvantaged backgrounds: the higher, non-adjacent rate has been increased to €4,495 an amount equal to the maximum personal rate of social welfare unemployment assistance. The adjacent rate has been increased to €1,800. These increases represent "top-ups" on the ordinary grant of €1,610 and €645 respectively; the annual income threshold for the special rates of grant has been increased by 10.8% to €13,760.
I believe that this substantial package of measures will provide the opportunity, in an unprecedented manner, for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their full potential in the education system.
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