Mr. Brian Power:

No. The only thing I can say is that in our work plan for the HEA for 2015, a review of the SAF is mooted. It will be interesting to examine these issues in the context of that review.

The other issue that is probably important in this regard is the consideration of the management of the scheme in each institution. Our understanding is that some institutions have a policy of making a full disbursal at the start of the academic year. Given the nature of the issues that arise for students throughout the academic year, we would have a question about that. This is one of the issues that might arise in the context of the review of the scheme.

Consider the range of general issues concerning students falling out of higher education. Some of the issues are financial but some are very much academic. Some research done on this indicates students who embark on the wrong course very often find themselves in a difficult position. It is not necessarily for financial reasons that they drop out of a course. Since their entitlement to participate in the free fees scheme is gone for a year or whatever, they fail to get back in. Therefore, one consideration to be borne in mind in the development of the new national access plan is the need to ensure the existence of supports so that when students transition from second level into higher education, they will make the right choices and not be at high risk of dropping out.