Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

The Minister sends his apologies for his absence. As a practising politician, I understand the seriousness of the situation and I assure the Deputy that I will not give him any spin or PR in my reply, just the facts of the situation we are trying to address.

I thank the Deputy for giving me this opportunity to outline the position of the Department of Education and Science regarding applications by students for funding under the student support schemes. I am pleased to inform the House that the Department of Education and Science 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 grant 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 grant schemes, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed condition of funding including those which relate to nationality, residency, means and previous academic attainment. The Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts 1968 to 1992 provide for the making of grants by local authorities to enable persons to attend approved courses of higher education. The process whereby local authorities assess eligibility and make grant payments under the higher education grants scheme is provided for under these Acts. The organisation and management of student support scheme grants is a matter for individual vocational educational committees and local authorities. These bodies seek to ensure that students are given decisions on their grant applications and are paid as soon as possible. It is acknowledged that some students are experiencing delays in the processing of their grant applications. Every effort is being made by local authorities and VECs to ensure that students are given decisions on their grant applications and are paid as soon as possible. It is understood that the awarding bodies received an unprecedented number of applications this year and that they are still getting late applications daily.

The Deputy will appreciate that in the context of the current economic circumstances, difficult choices had to be made by Government in order to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run. In that regard, the Deputy will be aware of the Government decision to implement a recruitment and promotion moratorium in the public sector. The Minister acknowledges the difficulties which VECs and local authorities are experiencing because of the moratorium which may in some instances be affecting the processing of grants. Our difficult economic circumstances mean that tough choices had to be made to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run.

It is inevitable that staffing constraints on public bodies will lead to certain pressures on services. The bodies are endeavouring to ensure that the work associated with the processing of grants will be prioritised. I understand the significant pressures on the staff of the VECs and local authorities and I know they are doing everything possible to process the applications as quickly as possible. The moratorium on public sector recruitment will have an impact on the availability of staff to process these applications. The staff are making every effort——

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