Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

It seems that the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, is making reasonable efforts to reform the assessment for higher education grants but that her endeavours are being stifled by officials within the Department of Social and Family Affairs. They refuse to carry out an assessment similar to that for social welfare recipients. It is time the Minister stood firm. All too often the Minister for Finance has dictated policy in education but this is a new departure with regard to the application of the means test. There is an urgent need for reform if equity in access to these grants is to be had. As a former Minister for Education, the Leader will understand the need for this reform. Will she request that the Minister for Education and Science announce her intentions in one of the Houses of the Oireachtas before we read about them in the press?