Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I accept the Deputy's point. If an individual applicant considers that he or she has been unjustly refused a maintenance grant or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, he or she may appeal to the relevant VEC. Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down, in writing, by the relevant VEC and remains of the view that the body has not interpreted the schemes correctly in his or her case, a letter outlining the position may be sent to the Department of Education and Science. Alternatively, as already indicated, the VEC may, in exceptional circumstances, refer the case to the Department for advice.

The Deputy will appreciate that it is not open to the Department to depart from the terms and conditions of the maintenance grants schemes in individual cases. I am aware, however, that the Deputy has been in contact with officials in the Department regarding the individual concerned. In addition, the access officer attached to Athlone Institute of Technology has been in correspondence with the Department.

The position is that, in general, students entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for grants — maintenance and tuition fees — where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to age, residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment. Under the terms and conditions of the vocational education committees scholarship scheme 2005, a mature candidate means a candidate who is at least 23 years of age on 1 January of the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course. Mature students are categorised as either independent mature students or mature students dependent on parents. An independent mature student is defined as a mature candidate who is not ordinarily resident at home with his or her parents from the October preceding his or her entry to an approved course. Independent mature students are assessed without reference to their parents' income or address. When assessing the means of students other than independent mature students, the scheme specifies that the students' means and those of their parents or guardians must be below a prescribed limit. That provision requires that parental income be taken into account, irrespective of the individual circumstances, in any case where the student is not an independent mature student.

In accordance with clause 4.4.3 of the VEC scheme 2005, in the case of a candidate other than an independent mature candidate, the candidate's reckonable income shall be that of the candidate and of the candidate's parents or guardians, except where the candidate's parents are divorced or legally separated or it is established to the satisfaction of the vocational education committee that they are separated, in which case the candidate's reckonable income shall be that of the candidate and of the parent with whom the candidate resides.

It is understood that the student in question is seeking to be assessed as an independent student. To be assessed as such in this case, satisfactory evidence must be supplied to establish independent status. The Deputy will be aware that aspects of the case must be clarified to assess eligibility.

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