Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 185: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he will support the case of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32704/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The postgraduate programme referred to by the Deputy is not one of the approved courses under the Labour Market Activisation initiative.

Places under this initiative were awarded following a competitive Call for Proposals issued by the HEA to the publicly funded third level institutions in June to provide 1,000 part-time postgraduate places in areas identified by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs as being relevant to the skills needs of the enterprise sector and to the needs of the Smart Economy. Submissions for circa 3,000 places were received and the 1,000 available places were awarded following an evaluation of these proposals by an expert panel.

The particular course referred to by the Deputy was not included in the proposals received from institutions. However, that course is supported under the Higher Education Authority's Graduate Skills Conversion Programme and is available at a greatly reduced fee. The course is offered on both a full-time and part-time basis. Should the prospective student wish to pursue the course on a full-time basis, he may be eligible for support under this Department's Student Maintenance Grant Scheme. Provision of a grant is subject to a means test and other eligibility criteria. Further information on how to apply for a student maintenance grant is available on the student finance website: www.studentfinance.ie