Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 252: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way he justifies the abolition of postgraduate grants and the way he justifies raising fees to €3000. [21723/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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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 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. Nevertheless, in the context of the necessary but difficult expenditure reduction measures announced in Budget 2012, new students entering postgraduate courses from the 2012/13 academic year onwards will not be entitled to any maintenance payment under the Student Grant Scheme. Existing postgraduate students will not be affected.

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 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.

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. However, there will be a new income threshold for this payment which will be lower than the standard grant threshold. The income threshold for this level of grant is currently being determined in the context of the formulation of the student grant scheme for the 2012/13 academic year. Tax relief is also available on postgraduate tuition fees. Details in relation to this relief are available from the Revenue Commissioners.

In addition to this, the Student Assistance Fund will continue to be made available through the access offices of third-level institutions to assist students in exceptional financial need. Also the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) provides funding to both further and higher education institutions for the provision of services and supports for full-time students with disabilities.

While it is regrettable that any changes need to be made to student supports, 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.

I take it that the Deputy's reference to fees relates to the level of Student Contribution. In order for this country to adhere to its agreed economic recovery programme and to reduce the budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2015 it is necessary to seek to reduce expenditure across all areas of the Department. As with student supports, this involves difficult decisions including the decision in Budget 2012 to increase the Student Contribution to €2,250 for the 2012/13 academic year. While the Government considered a range of saving options for the 2012-2015 period as part of the budget process last year, final decisions have not been made in respect of student contribution increases for 2013 and beyond. More savings will have to be found and further increases to the student contribution in future years cannot be ruled out. This is one of the options that was included in the Department's Comprehensive Expenditure Report, published last December.

In recognition of the financial pressures that the student contribution may place on families, this Department, through the Higher Education Authority (HEA) requested higher education institutions to consider putting in place arrangements under which a student may opt to pay the student contribution in two instalments in a given academic year. It should be noted that the student contribution is paid by the Exchequer in respect of students who qualify under the Department's Student Grant Scheme. Tax relief is also available for second and subsequent siblings to alleviate the costs for families.