Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify the funding options, including reference to fees and grant support, open to a person from a low-income household currently in third level education who wishes to pursue postgraduate study commencing in the 2012-13 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40576/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Deputy will be aware that due to the need to close the gap between revenue and spending, unpalatable savings measures are necessary and savings in the student grant scheme were inevitable as part of that.

In this regard, I have adopted a fees only contribution at postgraduate level but this will continue to provide support for a relatively wide number of post-graduate students. While there would be no maintenance payments, all 'special rate' students will have their fees paid while another 4,000 students will receive a fee contribution of €2,000. In access terms, the requirement to pay a fee would be likely to be a greater obstacle to entry than lack of maintenance support.

This approach has enabled me to ensure that substantial allocations continue to be made to students from lower income backgrounds to achieve an undergraduate qualification to improve their job opportunities.