Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 495: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the grants which are available to mature students returning to further education who do not live in areas covered by partnerships; if there are circumstances where payments under the millennium partnership fund are extended outside partnership areas; if so, the body through which same occurs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31483/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department operates four student maintenance grant schemes which comprise the Post Leaving Certificate Scheme and three schemes which relate to third level courses. The Schemes are administered by the VECs and Local Authorities on behalf of my Department. Under the prescribed conditions of all four schemes maintenance grants are payable at either the adjacent or the non-adjacent rate.

In order to qualify for grant assistance, a candidate must, of course, satisfy the prescribed conditions of the schemes including those relating to residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment.

The adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable where the grantholder's normal residence is 15 miles or less from the college or PLC Centre which he/she is attending. The non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable in all other cases, with the exception of all eligible mature students who, with effect from the 1999/2000 academic year, qualify for the higher non-adjacent rate of grant.

Under the terms of the Department's maintenance grants schemes, and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Act 1992, a mature student is defined as a candidate who is at least 23 years of age on the 1st January of the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course.

Mature students are categorised as either independent mature students or mature students dependent on parents or guardians. An independent mature student is defined as meaning a mature student who was not ordinarily resident at home with his/her parents or guardians from the October preceding their entry to an approved course. Independent mature students are assessed without reference to The Millennium Partnership Fund, which was established in 2000, is a community-based fund that supports retention and participation among under-represented groups of students in further or higher education. The fund is available to students from area partnerships and community groups that participate in the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP). Application for Millennium funding is made annually by organisations through Pobal Ltd., the state company established to promote social inclusion, reconciliation and equality in Ireland and which has administered the fund since it was established. In 2004-5, the latest year for which figures are available, approximately 3,750 students in higher and further education benefited from the fund. The Fund primarily benefits students through the direct provision of financial assistance.

The Millennium Partnership Fund is a targeted funding programme, operating within defined urban and rural areas that are the most socio-economically disadvantaged in the country. It is well established that participation rates in higher education are significantly lower than the national average in areas targeted under the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme. Indeed, priority in allocating Millennium funding is given to partnerships and community groups that operate within CLÁR — or RAPID-designated areas.

The Millennium Fund complements the range of other education actions being implemented at community level through the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme. The Fund also complements the work being undertaken by higher education institutions' access programmes, many of these programmes working with communities that benefit from the Millennium Fund.

In March 2005, the National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education published an evaluation of the Millennium Partnership Fund. The overall conclusion of the evaluation is that the Millennium Fund serves an important function in supporting students from disadvantaged areas to attend further and higher education. The report identified and considered a number of issues including that of geographical boundaries.

In the context of discussions on the implementation of the 2005/6 Fund, the National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education requested that Pobal consider a number recommendations contained in the evaluation.

Currently, therefore, there is nothing specific in the Pobal implementation guidelines referring to individuals residing outside the geographical remit covered by community and area-based partnerships under the Millennium Partnership Fund. However, in very occasional and exceptional circumstances partnerships have used their own discretion and have extended Millennium Partnership Funding to individuals residing outside the partnership geographical remit. On occasions where this has occurred, partnerships must demonstrate that they had the money to do so in the first instance and that the selection would not 'displace' students residing in the partnership area.

Where partnerships have not extended funding to individuals seeking monetary support and residing outside their geographical remit, they have explored and supported students to the best of their ability in identifying alternative avenues of funding where relevant.

As we move towards the beginning of a new national development plan, the National Office and Pobal are considering ways in which the impact and effectiveness of the Fund, and its complementarity with other initiatives, can be improved. Pobal have submitted a document to the National Office on the future of the Millennium Fund in the context of the new national plan. This is currently being considered by the National Office.