Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 537: To ask the Minister for Education and Science, further to Parliamentary Question No. 396 of 11 October 2005, the criteria required for the college in question to be approved for student support schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30261/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The higher education grants scheme operates under the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts 1968 to 1992. An approved institution is defined to mean a university, college or other institution of higher education in so far as it provides a course, or courses, of not less than two years duration at undergraduate level and not less than one years duration at postgraduate level, being a course or courses of which the Minister for Education and Science approves for the time being for the purposes of the Acts.

The higher education grants scheme specifies a list of approved institutions for the purposes of the scheme. The approved institutions are mainly comprised of publicly funded third level institutions. In this regard, the college to which the Deputy refers is a private college and is not on the list of approved institutions for the purpose of the scheme.

Any general extension to the scope of the grants scheme to include private colleges such as the sound training college can be considered only in the light of available resources and in the context of competing demands and priorities within the education sector. There are no plans to extend the scope of the student support schemes to private colleges.