Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 259: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if higher education grants will be paid in sufficient time to ensure that students are not kept waiting unnecessarily and thereby causing anxiety for them and the institutions they attend; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11025/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Third Level maintenance Grant Schemes, which my Department revises annually, are administered by the Local Authorities and VECs.

The arrangement for the payment of grants under the Grant Schemes are a matter for the Local Authorities/VECs. The terms of the Higher Education Grants Scheme and the V.E.C. Scholarships Scheme for the 2006/07 academic year provide for the payment by the Local Authorities/VECs of each maintenance grant in three equal instalments as early as possible in each term with the individual payable orders being addressed to the grant holder c/o the Bursar's Office of the College.

The Deputy will be aware that, in accordance with the commitment in the Agreed Programme for Government, I plan to introduce a single unified scheme of maintenance grants for students in higher education. This will, I believe, provide for a more coherent administration system which will facilitate consistency of application, improved client accessibility and ensure the timely delivery of grants to those who need them most. This is part of my overall plan to introduce service improvements in the administration of the student grant schemes. These will include guaranteed timeframes for the earlier payment of grants, an independent appeals procedure and more efficient arrangements for handling applications and making payments.