Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if further assistance is available to a person (details supplied). [6499/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Support for students attending full-time third level education is provided by way of the Department's student grant schemes. Under the schemes, qualifying students may receive full support for fees and the Student Contribution as well as assistance towards maintenance. To establish eligibility for a grant, a student should apply to the grant awarding authority in the area where he/she resides.

Where a grant application is refused, the reason for the refusal is given by the grant awarding authority. An applicant may appeal the decision to the relevant local authority or VEC. Where the grant awarding authority decides to reject the appeal, the applicant may appeal this decision to my Department by submitting an appeal form clearly outlining clearly the grounds for the appeal.

As the Deputy has not indicated where the candidate in question resides, my Department was not in a position to ascertain if he applied for a student grant. However, no appeal has been received from him by my Department to date.

In addition to the student grant schemes, some €5m per annum is made available through the access offices of third-level institutions to assist students in exceptional financial need.