Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 344: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reasons an Irish citizen resident in the common travel area of the EU does not qualify for grants for courses under the remit of her Department if the person is resident in the common travel area but not in Ireland on 1 October of the proceeding year of the application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4380/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that under the Higher Education Grants Scheme, which is administered by the Local Authorities on behalf of the Department, generally speaking, students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for grants (maintenance and tuition fees) where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to age, residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment. An approved course for the purpose of the Higher Education Grants Scheme means a full-time undergraduate course of not less than two years duration and a full time postgraduate course of not less than one years duration pursued in an approved third level institution.

The condition relating to residency requires, in the case of a candidate under 23, the candidate's parents or guardians to have been resident in the administrative area of a Local Authority from 1st October of the previous year. In the case of an 'Independent Mature Candidate' the candidate himself/herself must have been resident in the administrative area of a Local Authority from 1st October of the previous year. The Local Authorities have discretion to waive this requirement in exceptional circumstances.

Under the Nationality clause of the Scheme all E.U nationals, including Irish Nationals, are eligible to be considered.

However, candidates who are E.U. nationals and who do not satisfy the residency requirement are eligible to apply for a means-tested fees only grant in respect of approved courses in the Republic of Ireland, provided they have been ordinarily resident, for a purpose other than wholly or mainly to receive full-time education, in an E.U. Member State from 1 October, of the previous year. Such candidates shall apply to the Local Authority in which the college they propose to attend is situated.

Apart from the funding provided through the student maintenance grant schemes, the Department also provides funding to the approved third level institutions to operate a Student Assistant Fund to assist students in a compassionate and sensitive manner who may otherwise have to leave college due to financial hardship. Information on the fund is available from the Student Access Officer at the college being attended.