Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday Clare County Council confirmed it is demanding that a student's parents pay the household charge before a student's grant application will be processed. Other councils have said they are preparing to follow suit. Yesterday the Taoiseach seemed to be supporting this action and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, described it as reasonable.

Ba mhaith liom barúil an Taoisigh air seo a chlos. Sílim go bhfuil an t-Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna mícheart. Is í seo an chaoi lena dhéanamh cinnte go bhfuil seansanna ag daoine óga don todhchaí. Seo an t-am chun dóchas a thabhairt do ógánaigh na tíre. Muna gcuirimid iallach air seo, mar pholaiteoirí agus mar shaoránaigh, beidh fadhbanna ann. Caithfidh an Taoiseach a bheith go han-soléir faoi seo

Surely we should be encouraging young people to go on to third level education and that the Minister for Education and Skills should ensure students have access to education, in particular those who need grants because invariably if one needs a grant, it means one is from a lower or middle income family. Does the Taoiseach support this action? Can he be clear about it today? There are even some reports of councils planning to link the payment of grants to the disabled to the payment of the household charge. Are the disabled to be the targets of Government cuts once again?

Has the Taoiseach taken legal advice on this issue and does he support the withholding of public services and public grants from the children of citizens who may not be paying the household charge? Will the Government instruct Clare County Council and others planning similar actions to stop? Will the Taoiseach make it clear that the Government supports the rights of students to the grants to which they are entitled without reference to what their parents may or may not be doing?

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