Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 514: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount of the basic third level maintenance grant; and the way students are availing of it. [11078/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department funds four maintenance grant schemes for third level and further education students. These are the Higher Education Grants (HEG) Scheme, the Vocational Education Committees' (VEC) Scholarships Scheme, the Third Level Maintenance Grants Scheme for Trainees and the Maintenance Grants Scheme for Students attending Post Leaving Certificate Courses. The decision on eligibility for third level grants is a matter for the relevant local authority or VEC.

Generally speaking, students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for grants where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to age, residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment. The Schemes outline the respective courses which are approved for grant purposes.

It has been the practice in recent years to increase the level of maintenance grants annually, at least in line with inflation. In the current academic year, in line with this policy, I announced increases of 3% in the ordinary maintenance grant to give a maximum grant of €3,110 in the 2006/07 academic year.

In addition, the reckonable income limits for ordinary maintenance grants were increased by 5.3% for the 2006/07 academic year. This increase exceeds the increase in the average industrial wage for the September to September reference period. The top limit for grant eligibility where there are less than four dependent children was increased from €44,350 to €46,700, ensuring that a significantly higher number of students from households with moderate incomes will not have to pay the Student Service Charge of €800.

In relation to the number of students receiving financial assistance under the student support schemes, the most recent figures show that over 57,000 students benefited under the schemes in 2005/06, of which approximately 12,500 benefited from the special rate of maintenance grant (sometimes known as the 'top-up' grant) in addition to the basic maintenance grant. The top-up grant was introduced by this Government to provide greater assistance to the most disadvantaged students, and in this regard it should be noted that the maximum amount of grant support available this year is €5,970 (including the special rate of maintenance grant) compared to just €2,032 in 1996/97.

Under my Department's student maintenance grant schemes, I am committed to ongoing improvements in the student support schemes including increasing the rates and income limits, as resources permit.