Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Seán Haughey. Tá mé iontach sásta go bhfuil sé anseo ón Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta leis an cheist seo a phlé. I am very pleased the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Seán Haughey, is here to discuss this very serious issue which affects many students in Donegal. I am also aware that it affects students throughout the State. Since I placed the motion on the agenda last weekend, the USI has stated this problem is experienced throughout the State. I understand the issue in my home county of Donegal because I have been inundated with requests from mothers, fathers and students to try to deal with this issue and find some resolution.

As I walked through the Chamber door I was on the telephone, as the Minister of State may have noticed. I was taking another call from a distressed mother whose daughter applied for a maintenance grant before the deadline and in good time. She is in college now but still has not received notification of whether the grant will be approved. She is not currently registered with the college because she is not obliged to pay the €1,500 registration fee if she is eligible for a maintenance grant. She cannot access vital services within the college because she is not registered and now there is a threat to the mid-term examinations. This is the problem faced by one individual but hundreds of others face similar problems.

This matter was foreseen and I have raised the issue many times. There is a need for the Student Support Bill to be implemented as well as a need for resources to be put in place to deal with the backlog in applications that local authorities and VECs are experiencing. However, given the difficult times in which we find ourselves there has been a significant increase in the number of applicants for maintenance grants. It is estimated that applications have increased by 20% in Donegal and there is no doubt there were hundreds of additional applications to Donegal County Council and Donegal VEC in the final days before the deadline.

Where does the problem arise? The problem is that Donegal County Council and Donegal VEC do not have the personnel or resources to process these applications in time. Part of the problem also arises from the fact that application forms were only made available four weeks before the deadline, although numerous requests have been submitted throughout the years for applications to be made available in good time. The recruitment embargo, which bans local authorities and VECs from employing new and additional people to deal with this problem, the ban on overtime, which does not allow people to work in excess of the scheduled hours to deal with the backlog, and the fact that local authorities were of the view initially that they would not have to deal with this matter this year because the Student Support Bill would transfer the services to the VEC, have all caused problems this year. The major problem, for which the Government is not directly responsible, is that so many new people are eligible for the maintenance grant because of the changed circumstances of their parents in the past year.

What is the impact on students? There are now hundreds of students in colleges throughout the State who have not paid the €1,500 registration fee because they are not required to do so. They will be entitled to the maintenance grant when the decision is made by the local authority or VEC. Since they have not paid the €1,500 fee, they are not registered with the college. Since they are not registered with the college they do not receive a student number. Since they do not have a student number they cannot access the computer suites, take books from the library and, most important, are not allowed to sit the mid-term exams which start next week. This problem in terms of registration for students requires the direct involvement of the Minister. The Minister must instruct the colleges that there is a backlog, that there is a major problem and that we must get over this hurdle immediately.

The bigger problem is that such students are awarded maintenance grants because they need them to survive in college. We are all aware of the cost of going to college. This small amount of money allows people from the working and lower middle classes to be able to send their children to college. In that way, people can go through colleges independently, but without that support such people are in danger of dropping out. That is the problem we are now faced with. Students have told me that in the majority of cases it will be January 2010 until their applications for local authority grants will be assessed. In the meantime, people are being told to apply for a loan. However, they may have lost their jobs in the last year and are trying to pay mortgages and other debts that have accrued in recent years. They are being turned down for loans by the banks we are bailing out, so the students are being left high and dry as a result.

We must ensure these students can sit their exams and get access to all the services in their colleges. Additional resources are also required by local authorities and vocational education committees. It is not right to leave our students, who are the future of this country, in this position. Months after they have applied and filled in their forms on time, State bodies cannot make the decision because they are being strangled by the Government's restrictions. In the coming weeks, Donegal County Council alone will have lost 280 staff members. One in five of the council's workforce has disappeared in the past 18 months, yet they are still being asked to deliver more services with less resources, which is impossible. We need to lift the embargo, at least on local authorities and VECs, so that additional people can be recruited.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Senator for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the Minister's position concerning the processing of student grant applications by County Donegal VEC and Donegal County Council.

The Department funds four maintenance grant schemes for third level and further education students. These are the higher education grants scheme, the vocational education committees' scholarship scheme, the third level maintenance grants scheme for trainees, and the maintenance grant scheme for students attending post-leaving certificate courses. The higher education grants scheme is administered by the local authorities and the remaining schemes are administered by the vocational education committees, the VECs.

Under the terms of the maintenance grant schemes, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those which relate to nationality, residency, means and previous academic attainment. The Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts 1968 to 1992 provide for the making of grants by local authorities to enable persons to attend approved courses of higher education. The process whereby local authorities assess eligibility and make grant payments under the higher education grants scheme is provided for under these Acts.

The process of assessing eligibility for third level or further education grants and the organisation and management of student support scheme grants are matters for the relevant local authority or VEC. These bodies seek to ensure students get decisions on their grant applications and are paid as soon as possible. It is essential that students return fully completed application forms and all necessary supporting documentation as early as possible to enable decisions to be made on entitlement.

Delays can arise where the administering body is awaiting further information or documentation from applicants, or where applicants have failed to submit complete application forms. In this regard County Donegal VEC has confirmed to officials of the Department that a significant number of the outstanding grant applications have not been processed in full owing to such delays.

The Senator will appreciate that, in the context of the current economic circumstances, difficult choices had to be made by the Government to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run. In that regard, the Senator will be aware of the Government decision to implement a recruitment and promotion moratorium in the public sector. In the VECs, positions other than teacher and special needs assistant posts in schools and teacher equivalents that are directly providing tuition to pupils in schools in special programmes or in an adult and further education are comprehended by this decision.

The Government also sought a reduction in pay in the public sector in 2009. In that regard the VECs' administrative pay funding allocations were reduced by 4% in 2009 and the Department is aware that certain VECs, including County Donegal VEC, have reduced overtime this year to remain within budget. County Donegal VEC has confirmed to the Department that the processing of grants has been affected by the overtime reduction and by the non-replacement of staff on leave due to the moratorium. On behalf of the Minister for Education and Science I acknowledge the difficulties this may be causing certain third level students. However, as I have already explained, difficult choices were necessary to ensure sustainability. Accordingly, I can confirm that the Minister for Education and Science does not intend seeking a derogation from the recruitment and promotion moratorium or from the Government decision regarding pay funding to facilitate the processing of grants by County Donegal VEC.

County Donegal VEC has assured the Department that the body of work associated with the processing of grants has been prioritised. On behalf of the Minister, I acknowledge the efforts of the VEC in the difficult circumstances that apply at this time. The Senator will appreciate it would not be appropriate for me to comment on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science on the consequences of the moratorium and overtime restrictions on the processing of grants by Donegal County Council as such issues in local authorities are a matter for his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I acknowledge the problems the Senator has raised and hope I have dealt with them in my response. I thank the Senator again for raising this matter.

Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)
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Unfortunately, the Minister of State did not respond to the questions I raised. I know his speech was drafted by departmental officials, but what does the Minister of State or the Department say to students who cannot sit their mid-term exams next week? Students at third level colleges cannot get books out of the library or use college computers. They may need to drop out of college because they have had no assistance from the State, from September to January, to which they are entitled.

There is a simple solution to this, which is why I want the Minister of State to work with me and be a bit imaginative. The Department of Education and Science should issue an immediate instruction to universities and institutes of technology that all students should be temporarily registered in the meantime until local authorities and VECs have dealt with the backlog. The education of these students is at stake because they cannot sit their exams. I am not happy with the position on grant payments, but if they could sit exams and have access to the necessary educational materials, it would be a positive outcome. Will the Minister of State raise with the Minister as soon as possible the idea of temporarily registering all students who have applied to VECs or local authorities for funding but who have not yet received a decision on their applications?

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did not have notice of the particular proposal the Senator was going to make. I will take it back to the Minister and his officials for a response.

Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State.