Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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76. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied) whose application for a grant has been turned down despite the fact the family's net income would place them well below the threshold, leaving the individual in question unable to attend their post-leaving certificate course in Cavan Institute because of the costs involved. [42193/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Student grant applications are means tested on gross income from all sources earned inside and outside the State within a specified reference period. The assessment of income from the same starting point is deemed to be fair and reasonable because this approach eliminates any distortion which might arise from different spending decisions in different households. In the interest of equity, I have no plans to change this arrangement.

I understand that the independent Student Grant Appeals Board dealt with an appeal from the student referred to by the Deputy on 24th September 2013 and upheld the original decision of the awarding authority. The student was notified of this decision on 25th September 2013.