Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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411. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason that an official letter of qualification from a third level institution is no longer acceptable for eligibility for the graduate payment under core funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60940/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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There has been no change in the requirements for verification of qualifications under the Core Funding scheme. The administrator of the scheme, Pobal, has assured my Department that the qualification verification process used for graduate premiums in Core Funding is the same as the process previously used for ECCE Higher Capitation.

Pobal continues to accept official transcripts as a means of verifying qualifications. However, as was previously the case with ECCE Higher Capitation, they must be final official transcripts, stating the overall grade and title of the course, and cannot be a screenshot of a webpage. Similarly, as was previously the case with ECCE Higher Capitation, letters from an educational institution must have both a college stamp and signature. It should also be noted that all documentation must be presented in English or be accompanied by an official translation or, in the case of Latin certificates, must have an accompanying official letter outlining the relevant information in English. All of the above measures are implemented to minimise the risk of fraudulent documentation being accepted, and these same measures previously applied to ECCE Higher Capitation.  

I am satisfied that these are appropriate measures to ensure that the Core Funding graduate premium is awarded only in relation to those who hold approved qualifications.