Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am replying on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe.

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline the position of Education and Science on an application by the man in question for funding under the maintenance grant schemes. The Department funds four maintenance grant schemes for third level and further education students. These are the higher education grants scheme; the vocational education committees scholarship scheme; the third level maintenance grants scheme for trainees and the maintenance grants scheme for students attending post-leaving certificate courses. The higher education grants scheme is administered by the local authorities. The other three schemes are administered by the vocational education committees.

Under the terms of the maintenance grants scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions for funding, including those which relate to nationality, residency, means and previous academic attainment. The nationality requirement states candidates must hold EU nationality, or have official refugee status, been granted humanitarian leave to remain in the State prior to the Immigration Act 1999, be a person in respect of whom the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has granted permission to remain following a determination not to make a deportation order under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999, have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to an Irish national residing in the State, be the child of such person not having EU nationality, have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to a national of another EU member state who is residing in the State and who is or has been employed or self-employed in the State, be the child of such person not having EU nationality or a national of a member country of the European economic area or Switzerland.

The decision on eligibility for a maintenance grant is a matter for the relevant local authority or vocational education committee as appropriate. If an individual applicant considers that he or she has been unjustly refused a maintenance grant, or that the rate of maintenance grant awarded is not the correct one, he or she may appeal in the first instance to the relevant assessing authority. Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by the relevant assessing authority and remains of the view that the body has not interpreted the schemes correctly in his or her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the Department of Education and Science. No appeal has been submitted to date in this case.

In this case the decision on eligibility for third level grants is a matter for Kildare Vocational Education Committee. It recently sought advice from the Department on the candidate's eligibility under the nationality clause of the vocational education committees' scholarship scheme 2008 as the applicant's mother was recently granted naturalisation.

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