Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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88. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will make additional resources available for the student assistance fund since an additional allocation had been made over the past two years and the level of student hardship continues to be on the increase. [3505/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Student Assistance Fund is a component of the Third Level Access Measure which is managed on behalf of my Department by the Higher Education Authority and comprises two sub-priorities: the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities. The overall value of the measure for the 2013/14 academic year is €16.2m. The management of the Third Level Access Measure Fund rests with the Higher Education Authority and the allocation of funding for the sub-priorities in a particular year is a matter for the authority. The Student Assistance Fund is administered on a local basis by participating higher education institutions and targets those students most in need. The Authority approved in July of this year an allocation for the Student Assistance Fund for the 2013/14 academic year of €8m. Each participating institution was advised of its individual allocation in advance of the academic year in order to facilitate timely planning and disbursement to students.Following agreement with my Department, the HEA, in January 2014, allocated €350,000 of funding to higher education institutions to assist students in severe financial need. This funding is in addition to the €8m allocated in 2013. The €350,000 will be distributed across all higher education institutions that currently receive an SAF allocation and has been allocated in the same way as the core SAF allocation for 2013-14 of €8m. The funding will provide institutions with additional resources to support full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students that are experiencing financial difficulties.