My Department funds four maintenance grant schemes for third level and further education students. These are the higher education grants scheme, the vocational education committees' scholarships scheme, the third level maintenance grants scheme for trainees and the maintenance grants scheme for students attending post-leaving certificate courses. The higher education grants scheme is administered by local authorities. The other three schemes are administered by the vocational education committees. The process of assessing eligibility for third level or further education grants is a matter for the relevant local authority or VEC. Among the factors which give rise to delays in processing applications is where the administering body has to await further information-documentation from applicants, or applicants have failed to submit complete application forms. It is, therefore, not possible to indicate the number of outstanding applications for higher education grants not yet determined and paid at this stage but it is understood from officials at Louth County Council that all candidates who have submitted full applications to date have been processed and grant payments for eligible students have been paid or will be paid to the relevant colleges by the end of this week.
My Department, in recognition of the importance of the timely payment of grants to eligible students, is engaged in ongoing consultations with the Irish Vocational Education Association and the County and City Managers' Association with a view to enhancing the existing arrangements and ensure the earlier processing of applications and the making of payments to eligible students.