Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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469. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will direct his Department to include a person (details supplied) in County Sligo who is dependent on their parents who are medical cardholders as a candidate for the 2017 all-Ireland third level scholarship scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27010/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Students who sit the Leaving Certificate Examination for the first time in 2017 and who obtain at least Grade O6 or a higher grade in at least five subjects from the approved list of subjects, (as set out in the Rules and Programme for Post Primary Schools) will automatically be included as candidates for the award of the All Ireland Scholarships. 

In order to be eligible for the All Ireland Scholarship, a student must have attended a non fee-paying DES recognised school and participated in a Leaving Certificate programme at that school.  In addition, each individual candidate must be recognised as being from a socio-economically less advantaged background and, as evidence of this, must have been exempted from the payment of the Leaving Certificate examination fee.

Exemption from payment of the Leaving Certificate fee must have been communicated to the State Examinations Commission before the issue of the Leaving Certificate results (August 16^th2017), and medical cards must be valid on the date when fees are due to be paid to the State Examinations Commission (in 2017 this was the 31 March).  Furthermore, the candidate should not be a holder of another scholarship.  

The initial identification of potential scholarship recipients will be made on the basis of Leaving Certificate results.