Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I welcome this Bill. There is a general consensus throughout the House that the bringing forward of this legislation will streamline third level education, and that is welcome. The Minister's press release on 5 February 2008 stated that the Bill would streamline the administrative procedures for the management of the student grant awarding process, which is welcome. The decision in this respect will give the VECs sole responsibility for the administration of students' maintenance grants. It will end the current position where four bodies are involved.

Having served on a VEC from 1999 to 2004, I recognise the valuable work they do throughout the country, particularly the VEC on which I served in County Clare. It operates in a state-of-the-art building and has an excellent administrative staff. VECs deal not only with administration, school transport and processing students' grants but with a complete range of educational services in 30 locations throughout the country. The staff in the VEC have a difficult job and the girls in the VEC in Clare do an excellent job.

The current student grant system is cumbersome, of that there is no doubt. The experience of students in obtaining grants varies widely in different colleges and locations. County councils and VECs state that the majority of delays in finalising grant funding are due to requests for further information. The experience of students from different counties attending the same college vary in regard to obtaining grants. A student from Donegal may have to wait a month for his or her grant while another student may have received the grant. Students find it frustrating to have to wait a while for their grants. Serious financial burdens are caused for students whose grant payments are delayed.

It is imperative that such delays will be a thing of the past when the provisions of this Bill come into play in the 2009 and 2010 academic years. There is a mad rush by students to submit their applications for grants towards the end of July and some VECs deal with them on a numbered basis in that they might deal with applications from one to 100 on one day and so on. Some students suffer hardship while waiting for their grants to come through. This Bill is important in that it hopefully will relieve the clogging up of applications in the system.

Other delays in the processing of grants may be related to delays in the submission of parents' incomes in the case of those who are self-employed or delays in the issuing of tax clearance certificates. Many such delays in the submission of information prevent grants from being paid to students when they need them.

Some students have found that the current grant scheme is unfair in the qualifying conditions that apply. A constituent of mine was refused a third level grant because she was a single parent living at home. Her parents had to transport her to college each day. She needed the support of her family if she was to continue her third level education because her parents were babysitting her child. She was penalised for that because her parents' income was taken into account in the means test. Each year students and parents worry about how they will fund third level education for the academic year.

I acknowledge the contribution of the various speakers who contributed to this Bill since it first came before the House last March. I was following the debate on the monitor in my office when my constituency colleague, Deputy Dooley, spoke. He acknowledged the work that was done by the rainbow Government on the abolition of third level fees. He said it was enlightened thinking on the part of the then Government. If Fine Gael ever get into government again, Deputy Hayes will have enlightened thinking, although I do not know if the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, would agree with me on that.

The abolition of fees was a milestone. Initially it helped some parents to divert their funds to their children attending second level education. However, the increases in the cost of student accommodation, about which many Deputies spoke this morning, has meant that parents are finding it difficult to fund their children's third level education. If parents had to pay fees in addition to the other costs, it would not be possible for many of our children, particularly those in disadvantaged areas, to avail of third level education. The current maintenance grant covers students' day to day costs, but they have many additional expenses at third level, particularly in terms of materials and equipment. I am aware of this, having gone through the system from primary to secondary and on to third level with my two sons. Thankfully, they have now completed third level.

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