Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will remove SSIA payments from the means test for the higher education grant; her reason for not removing this once off payment which can have a significant impact on lower income families which would otherwise qualify for the grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8020/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is determined to ensure that SSIA savers are treated fairly in the calculation of reckonable income under my Department's maintenance grant schemes.

This is being achieved in two ways: Firstly, income from SSIAs is being treated exactly the same as income from similar savings and investment products; and Secondly, the reckonable income limits for student grants have been increased considerably in recent years.

Since SSIAs were introduced, the amount of income to be included in respect of them is the government grant earned on the savings in the relevant tax year plus, in the case of savings accounts, the gross interest earned in the relevant tax year, and, in the case of investment accounts, the investment profit earned in the relevant tax year. Investment losses sustained in the relevant tax year are deductible.

The same position has long applied to interest earned on other savings products, including deposit accounts, post office savings certificates, life assurance bonds etc. The treatment of SSIAs is therefore consistent with the traditional treatment of other similar investments over many years. The Department of Finance is aware of this approach to the assessment of income for eligibility for student support.

So, in applying for a grant for the 2007/08 academic year, only the relevant income earned, as outlined above, on the SSIA in 2005 has to be declared. The maximum that the Government grant to any SSIA saver could have amounted to last year, as in any year of the SSIA scheme, is €762.

This has been the position since SSIAs were introduced.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 254: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if all higher education grants will be processed by vocational education committees for the 2007 to 2008 academic year; when VECs and local authorities will be notified of these changes; the time frames involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8021/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I announced in June 2006 that the Vocational Education Committees (VECs) would be given sole responsibility for the administration of the third level student maintenance grants and that this was part of my overall plans to introduce service improvements in the administration of the student grant schemes.

The arrangements for the future administration will be provided for in new statutory framework through a Student Support Bill. The Government has approved the drafting of a new Student Support Bill which will place all student support schemes on a statutory footing for the first time, including providing for the designation of an appropriate awarding authority and for the general basis on which grants will be awarded to eligible students.

Work on the Bill is at an advanced stage and I hope to be in a position to publish the Bill shortly.

My Department is in consultation with the key stakeholders in order to map the most logical and effective arrangements for the future structure and administration of the student support schemes, including the arrangements for the 2007/08 academic year. These consultations are a priority for my Department at present.