Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 206: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his policy on the maintenance grant scheme at third level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11011/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The main objective of the Student Grant Scheme is to provide assistance to students, who otherwise might not be able to afford to do so, to participate in further and higher education. At third level, the grant supports eligible students in obtaining one undergraduate degree and in some cases, progressing, where appropriate, to a postgraduate course of study.

My priority as Minister for Education and Skills is to preserve access to undergraduate higher education courses despite the difficult circumstances in our public finances. As a result, no changes were made to the grant eligibility criteria for undergraduate students in Budget 2012. It is also worth emphasising that 41% of all undergraduate students currently receive a grant and pay no student contributions.

In the context of the necessary but difficult expenditure reduction measures announced in Budget 2012, reductions in support for new students entering postgraduate courses from the 2012/13 academic year had to be implemented. However, those students who meet the qualifying conditions for the special rate of grant will be eligible to have their post-graduate tuition fees paid up to the maximum fee limit under the Student Grant Scheme. In addition, a further limited number of students who would previously have qualified under the standard grant thresholds will qualify to have a €2,000 contribution made towards the costs of their fees.

In access terms, the requirement to pay a fee is considered to be a greater obstacle to entry than lack of maintenance support at postgraduate level. This is why I opted to maintain the fee-payment ahead of maintenance payments for postgraduate students. While it is regrettable that any changes need to be made to student support, I believe this approach will continue to provide resources for a relatively wide number of post-graduate students and allow us to maintain the high level of supports provided to undergraduate students.