Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. Student supports is an area with which all public representatives have first-hand knowledge and dealings. I could spend the rest of the day outlining to the Minister genuine anomalies in the current supports system. However, the most important aspect of the Bill is that the appeals process can advise the Minister of such anomalies and have them addressed.

The rigid structure of the current system does not facilitate the easy processing of student maintenance grants. Every speaker has stated the current system's structure with 66 different bodies is shambolic. The fundamental problem with the system is the late payment of maintenance grants, leading to much hardship for students. It is caused by the Minister of the day dragging his or her heels in announcing the income limit thresholds for third level grants. In turn, applications for grants cannot be circulated until the Minister makes that decision. This delays the whole process and leads to financial hardship.

Further delays in processing grants occur with the different local authorities. It is not necessarily the local authorities with the largest workload that are the last to issue payment. Students end up having to take out personal loans from banks until their third level grant comes through. Such delays cause additional worry for leaving certificate students waiting for their results and subsequent CAO offer.

The new website, referred to by Deputy Stanton, www.studentfinance.ie, will help allay some of those concerns. The Minister, the Department and the Higher Education Authority are to be commended for this development. Hopefully, we will see more utilisation of technology in this area.

Section 9 states an approved course must be a full-time course. Over the years, all Members will have come across cases of part-time students and courses that are not covered by the higher education grant. A constituent of mine is in receipt of the one-parent family payment and wants to participate in a distance-learning teacher training course run by Hibernia College, a course approved by HETAC and qualifying for the higher education grant. While the Department of Social and Family Affairs would approve her back to education allowance if she were attending a full-time course in a recognised college, it will not approve a distance-learning course, even though it is Government policy to assist parents on the one-parent family payment. The current policy needs to be reviewed.

With four young children it is not possible for my constituent to move her family to Dublin to participate in the course. Her difficulty is compounded by the fact she is ineligible for the higher education grant. This leaves her with course fees of €8,000 per annum. More co-ordination between the Departments of Social and Family Affairs and Education and Science is needed. If someone meets the requirements for the back to education allowance he or she should be deemed eligible for the higher education grant. I know we cannot open it up to every single person in the country who is doing a part-time course and I fully accept that. However, if people meet the criteria for the back to education allowance, surely we should try to facilitate them and encourage them to get out of the cycle of poverty.

The Minister also said in her contribution that the Bill would provide for more demanding general residency requirements for maintenance grants. How does that affect a cohort of people whose situation we have highlighted on numerous occasions, namely the illegal Irish in the USA who are now being forced to come home? Some of these have no formal third-level education, while some left school with only their junior certificates or their group certificates before they went to the USA. These people are denied access to social welfare or any other entitlements. This condition will also now deny them access to education.

The Bill also sets out nationality requirements for students from outside the European Union. This is an extremely interesting area and one on which I want to focus.

See this speech in context