Mr. Philip Connolly:

I cannot comment on its practices or processes but I imagine those concerned should be working towards the scheme and the regulations that are in place.

Regarding holiday earnings, non-term time is defined as what we can reduce by up to €4,500 and that is what we do. As we give flexibility to students where different institutions have different term times, they can come back to us and challenge that as well. It is not just the standard ones that we may all think of in terms of Christmas or Easter. If there is more non-term time, we can take that off as long as a student gets a letter from the college confirming that this is the case.

As for the inheritance that was included in an application, without knowing the individual case there are certain relationships where that would not be the case. If it is between a mother and daughter, that would not be included. If it was from an uncle to the applicant, however, that would be included. There are certain relationships within the scheme that allow for inheritance not to be included in the calculation of income.