Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will provide the most recent information on the socioeconomic background of persons in receipt of third level grants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13498/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Limited indicative data on the socioeconomic background of grantholders have been collected in the past on the higher education grants scheme only. My Department's student support unit is in the process of collating information on students who were awarded grants under the higher education grants scheme for the academic year 2004-05 from the returns which have been submitted to date by the local authorities. Unfortunately, a number of returns are outstanding for 2002-03 and 2003-04, which the Department is pursuing with the local authorities and the County and City Managers' Association. Despite this, and to avoid further delay, I am arranging to have the available data provided to the Deputy directly. It is the intention that this information will issue to the Deputy in the coming days in respect of the 2002-03 and 2003-04. This indicative data is subject to considerable qualification in regard to its reliability due to, inter alia, the level of undeclared status among the returns from the local authorities. Following consultations with the Irish Vocational Education Association, new arrangements were introduced in 2005 to compile a more comprehensive statistical breakdown of grantholders under the schemes administered by the VECs. This complements arrangements in place in respect of the higher education grants scheme. When the complete returns for the academic years 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 are available, the information will be made available to the Deputy.