Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have no doubt these issues will be considered very carefully so there will be an equitable approach and we can ensure all our community can benefit from higher education. I will point out a couple of facts about the equity issue. Over 3,000 students from disadvantaged groups will benefit from the additional package of €8.5 million to support more disadvantaged students, including lone parents and Travellers, in attending higher level education. This includes the introduction of the full maintenance grant worth almost €6,000 from September 2017 for 1,100 postgraduate students in the lowest income category. That is absolutely targeted at equity issues that have been correctly raised by the Deputy. I can also speak about other initiatives for support, including the new frontier research programme, with work being done to cover increasing enrolments. There is also provision for expansion of apprenticeships and so on. There are quite a number of issues in addition to the Deputy's point on grants, with actions being taken to achieve equity in access to education.

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