John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 513: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason a maintenance grant has not been approved in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; if the decision will be reviewed; and if a positive outcome will be expedited. [4316/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The decision on eligibility for maintenance grants is a matter for the relevant local authority or VEC. These bodies do not refer individual applications to my Department except, in exceptional cases, where, for example, advice or instruction regarding a particular clause in the relevant scheme is desired.

Under the terms of my Department's four student maintenance grant schemes, grants are payable to candidates pursuing approved full-time courses who meet prescribed conditions, including those pertaining to nationality, residency, means, age and previous academic attainment. Under the residency requirement a candidate's parents, or in the case of an independent mature candidate, the candidate herself/himself, must have been resident in the State from 1 October of the year prior to entry on an approved course.

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 2003 in this instance, 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.