Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I raise this issue on behalf of a group of parents from the Connemara Gaeltacht in County Galway, who have been in correspondence with the Department of Education and Science for more than a year but who have received no response to their problem. The parents are campaigning on behalf of their children who were offered third level scholarships to the value of €6,110 per annum, based on their exceptional leaving certificate results.

Recipients were given only three postal days to accept or reject the scholarship offers, and were therefore dependent on raising any queries they had by telephone with the Department. The letters of offer, which were received on 31 August 2008, were in Irish and signed by the acting principal officer of the Department in Tullamore. When the parents or children contacted the office, they were told the person who signed the letters did not understand or speak Irish. There was a then a delay in getting the English version sent out. Why does the Department of Education and Science allow such maladministration which results in gross confusion and misinformation to students?

Recipients of the Gaeltacht scholarships in 2007 have to date received payments well short of the €6,110 per annum mentioned in the letters of offer. Six of the recipients have received total amounts of €1,370 for the 2007-08 college year, while the remaining two recipients have received total amounts of €3,420. What has happened to the balance of the scholarship which remains unpaid? In 2007, the parents' group was informed by the Department that the Gaeltacht scholarship schemes were administered in accordance with the criteria and rates payable under the scheme of student supports, as administered by the local authority, which is paid to third level students based on a means test. However, this is not outlined anywhere in the guidelines regarding the terms of the Gaeltacht scholarship schemes, nor was this mentioned in the letter of offer to the scholarship recipients. This anomaly must be addressed.

The Gaeltacht scholarships are paid at two rates, namely, a lower rate paid in the case of Gaeltacht scholarship holders residing 24 kilometres or less from the college and a higher rate being paid in all other cases. The lower rate was abandoned in the 2005-06 college year and the higher rate was paid to all recipients in that year and in subsequent years. In 2007-08, however, the two different Gaeltacht scholarship rates were reintroduced with a lower and a higher rate. This resulted in scholarship holders from the same catchment areas, including siblings living in the same households, receiving different amounts for the same scholarship. Why are such anomalies and inequalities allowed in the administration of this scheme, resulting in distress and disappointment for the young persons concerned?

The scholarship rates, which were payable at a higher and lower rate in the case of the Easter week scholarships up until 2007, were abandoned in that year and a common higher rate of €6,750 was introduced, thereby avoiding the anomalies that exist with the Gaeltacht scholarship scheme. The Donagh O'Malley scholarship, which was introduced for the first time last year, has a common maintenance rate of €6,750 regardless of place of residence. The new JP McManus third level scholarships, which will be introduced for the 2008-09 college year, will also have a common maintenance rate of €6,750, regardless of place of residence. This leaves the Gaeltacht scholarship recipients in an unfair and unequal position in comparison to all other third level scholarships.

These are concerns raised by the parents and students of the Connemara Gaeltacht, and they have informed me that such concerns are causing great distress and disappointment to all involved. They are yet to have a positive response from the Department and Minister. I hope that Minister's response will shed some light on the matter.