Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 298: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if higher education grant assistance will be offered to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30303/07]

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' Scholarships Scheme, the Third Level Maintenance Grants Scheme for Trainees and the Maintenance Grants Scheme for Students attending Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) Courses.

The HEG Scheme is administered by the Local Authorities on behalf of my Department, the other three maintenance grant schemes are administered on a similar basis by the VECs. Grant applicants must be assessed by the awarding bodies with reference to the terms and conditions prescribed in the Scheme relevant to the course being pursued and the college being attended. The candidate referred to by the Department should apply, if they have not already done so, to their local VEC to establish eligibility for assistance for the course in Sports Therapy/Complementary Medicine.

The decision on eligibility for third level grants is a matter for the relevant assessing authority — i.e. the local authority or VEC. These bodies do not refer individual applications to my Department except, in exceptional cases, where, for example, advice or instruction regarding a particular clause in the relevant scheme isrequired.