Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very disappointed that the overall budget for this year has been fully committed. I accept that the Minister budgeted on the basis of a smaller amount of money for this year but there is a desperate need for her to find funding from somewhere. She should go back to the Department of Finance and seek further funds. If a student drops out of college and signs on for social welfare, then the Government is obliged to find money in order to cater for his or her needs. If the difference between someone remaining in college or dropping out is a few hundred euro, no one can help them because the money from the only fund by means of which assistance can be provided has already been spent. As already stated, this is such a false economy.

I accept that the Minister has been given limited resources with which to work but I am of the view that she must approach the Minister for Finance and fight for more money in respect of this fund. Students only returned to or began their college courses in September or October. If all the funding was gone by the end of December, then that is a signal that students are experiencing increasing financial distress. It is wrong that someone who is in a position of serious financial hardship might be told in March that nothing can be done for him or her because all of the funding was spent by the end of December.

The Minister indicated that the overall pot of funding for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years was the same. As she correctly pointed out, however, that money is shared between the fund for students with disabilities and the student assistance fund. The reason funding for the latter has been reduced is because there has been greater demand in respect of the former. Higher education institutions have a statutory obligation to provide support for students with disabilities. This means that funding for such students must come first, which is only right.