Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

The student support schemes for 2010 were published in May of this year. Changes to the 2010 schemes were announced in advance by the former Minister when he published last year's grant schemes in July 2009. The Minister gave advance notice of certain planned 2010 changes at that time by way of a press release on 29 July 2009 in order that students and their families would be aware of them in good time.

The specific issue to which the Deputy refers relates to how students re-entering higher education after a break in studies are classified for the purposes of assessing them for a student grant. This issue is governed by the break in studies clause in the student grant schemes. The break in studies clause generally applies to students who take a year or more out after completing an undergraduate course and return subsequently to take up further third level studies. This clause provides for the reclassification of such students allowing them to be means tested on their own income and that of their spouse, where appropriate, rather than being means tested on the basis of their parents' income.

My Department increased the duration of the studies break requirement in the 2010 schemes from one year to three years. This was done because in some cases students who would not otherwise have qualified for a grant on the basis of parental income were availing of a gap year which had the effect of creating a break in studies. The break in studies clause, as it stood, allowed these students to be re-classified as independent mature students and to qualify for grants and fees based on their own, rather than their parents' income. This was not the intention of the provision. The intention of the clause was to focus resources on genuine second chance and mature students. The increase to three years will ensure that the emphasis is, as intended, on facilitating such students to return to education.

This change will not, as suggested by the Deputy, prevent continuing students from re-entering college for three years. On the contrary, students who are already qualified for a grant based on a means test of their parents' income in previous years are likely

to continue to qualify for a grant on the same basis, unless a favourable change of circumstances arose in the intervening period. In that regard that the income thresholds to qualify for student grants and payment of the student services charge and-or fees remain unchanged for this year, despite the downward trend in average earnings.

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