Higher Education Grants

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 November 2010

Thursday, 4 November 2010

Ceisteanna (103)

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

102 Deputy Noel Ahern asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the regulation on reckonable income used in the assessment of third level grant applications; if car loans are normally regarded as an asset or as reckonable income or an asset in the assessment of grant applications and the rationale behind same; her views on the case of an application (details supplied) that was refused by Fingal County Council, who included the value of a car loan when they were calculating the family’s annual means; and if the applicant in question who received a grant for the 2009-10 college year can have their application refused when their family’s annual income including the value of car loan has actually decreased by more than 10% since this time last year. [40906/10]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan)

The assessment of means under my Department's student grant schemes is based on gross income from all sources, with specified social welfare and Health Service Executive payments being excluded from the calculation. Under the schemes, reckonable income is defined as income from:

Employment/Pensions;

Self Employment/Farming;

Rent and income from Land/Property;

Deposit/Investment Accounts;

Maintenance Arrangements;

Gifts/Inheritances and Disposal of Assets and Rights;

Social Welfare in certain circumstances.

A car loan is not regarded as reckonable income and assets are not taken into account in determining eligibility under the schemes.

The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the relevant grant awarding authority i.e. the applicant's local authority or VEC. Where a grant application is refused, the reason for the refusal is given by the grant awarding authority. An applicant may appeal the decision to the relevant local authority or VEC. Where the grant awarding authority decides to reject the appeal, the applicant may appeal this decision to my Department by submitting an appeal form outlining clearly the grounds for the appeal. No appeal has been received by my Department to date from the candidate referred to by the Deputy.