Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter, namely, the penalising of thrifty lower-income families whose children are in receipt of higher education grants because interest from their maturing SSIAs may take them marginally over the income threshold in future years, the fact that families who accepted the Government's advice to participate in the scheme and invested to save for their children's third level education now find their children's entitlements to education grants jeopardised as a result, that this is a departure from the spirit of a once-off savings scheme designed to encourage thrift among small savers, and to call on the Government to direct VECs and local authorities to disregard SSIA interest in assessing students' entitlement to higher education grants.

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