Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 1130: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason a person (details supplied) in Dublin 17 was refused a grant; and if their family will be given the maximum support and advice. [24806/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Under the terms of my Department's 2005 third level student maintenance grant schemes the position is that, generally speaking, students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for grants where they satisfy the prescribed conditions with regard to age, residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment.

The condition relating to residency requires, in the case of a candidate under 23, the candidate's parents or guardians to have been ordinarily resident in the administrative area of a local authority or VEC from 1 October 2004. In the case of an independent mature candidate, the candidate must have been ordinarily resident in the administrative area of a local authority or VEC from 1 October 2004. The local authority or VEC has discretion to waive this requirement in exceptional circumstances.

A mature candidate is defined as a student who is at least 23 years of age on 1 January of the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course. Mature candidates are categorised as either independent mature candidates or mature candidates dependent on parents. An independent mature candidate is defined to mean a mature candidate who was not ordinarily resident at home with his or her parents from 1 October 2004. Independent mature candidates are assessed without reference to either their parents' income or residence. For the purpose of the residency requirement, "normal residence" is defined to mean the permanent or ordinary address of the candidate's parents or guardians from 1 October 2004, or, in the case of an independent mature candidate, his or her ordinary or permanent address from 1 October 2004.

I regret that in cases such as the one referred to by the Deputy, where an independent mature candidate is not ordinarily resident in the State from the specified date, 1 October 2004 in this instance, he or she is ineligible for financial assistance. It is not open to me, or to my Department to depart from the terms of the schemes in individual cases.