Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy his comments will be brought to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Quinn. I repeat what the Minister said in his statement, namely, that there is absolutely no question of any particular group such as farmers being targeted in terms of this issue. Clearly, the objective of the Government is to make sure that those who need to get student grants get them. Some 76,600 students in this country got grants last year, which cost €336 million and represented 38% of the total number of full-time students. There is a very good system in place whereby people on low incomes qualify.

It remains the Minister's firm commitment that there should be no financial barrier to third level students who would not otherwise be able to afford to attend college or university. It is not therefore the object of means testing proposals to exclude any particular sector of society. The test will be applied fairly to all applications and in common with other State means tested schemes. The two principal factors that facilitate spending, income and accumulated wealth or capital, would be taken into account for all applicants regardless of their employment status. This means that farmers or any other category of person whose income and assets fall below a certain amount and cannot afford to send their children to third level would still continue to receive State support while those who can afford to pay would have to do so.

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