Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 452: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will reconsider the position of a person (details supplied) in County Cork as set out by County Clare Vocational Educational Committee regarding their eligibility to apply for a grant to City of Cork Vocational Educational Committee for the academic year 2006-2007; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17399/06]

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 the 1st 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, 1st October 2004 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.

Generally speaking, candidates continue to be assessed under the terms and conditions of the Scheme appropriate to their year of entry.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 453: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary will be approved for a higher education grant. [17406/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Under the terms of the Third Level Student Support Schemes, administered by the Local Authorities and Vocational Education Committees on behalf of the Department of Education and Science, a student is not eligible for grant assistance in respect of a second period of study at the same level, irrespective of whether a grant was paid previously. The schemes also provide that grants may not be paid to candidates who already hold a postgraduate qualification and are pursuing a second postgraduate qualification.

Notwithstanding this condition, candidates who already hold a postgraduate qualification and are progressing to a further postgraduate course which represents progression from the level at which the previous postgraduate qualification(s) was attained, may be deemed eligible for grant aid.

For the purposes of the maintenance grant schemes a Masters qualification is deemed to represent progression from the Higher Diploma in Education. While the Higher Diploma is accepted as progression from the Honours Bachelor Degree, an undergraduate qualification, it is not accepted as progression from any postgraduate qualification.

South Tipperary County Council, the awarding body responsible for assessing the student referred to by the Deputy has informed the candidate that as he already holds a Masters from the University of Limerick (Level 9) and would now wishes to pursue a Higher Diploma in Education (Level 8) he will be unable to receive a grant as the Level 8 would not represent progression.

Apart from the maintenance grants scheme and the free fees initiative, financial support is also available to students, in approved third level institutions, through the Student Assistance Fund. The objective of the Fund, which is ESF-aided, is to assist students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise, due to their financial circumstances, be unable to continue their third-level studies. Information on the Fund is available from the Access Officer at University College Cork.