D a i l  Q u e s t i o n s  J u l y 

Trinity Access Programme
Funding Delays for Foundation Courses
Hardship Funds for Foundation Courses
Recommendations 2.9 and 2.12 made by The Action Group on Access to Third Level Education
Child Benefit For Third Level Students

Order No.  326
Ref No.      18887|03,18889|03
Date: 01|07|03
Department Education and Science
Question Written
To ask the Minister if he will make a statement addressing concerns of students of the Trinity Access Programme Foundation Course in relation to the possibility of no funding being provided to run the course for future years

To ask the Minister if the 127,000 euro provided to fund the Trinity Access Programme foundation course for young adults in 2002 is to be provided this year in light of the department's 42 million euro windfall.
Reply  
I propose to take questions 18877|03, 18879|03 together.

My Department understands that the Deputy's question relates to the Foundation Year Course for Young Adults operated by Trinity College.

The Higher Education Authority has for a number of years provided dedicated funding to the universities and other HEA designated institutions to support new developments in areas of strategic importance in higher education. One particular priority area is that of broadening access to the universities and HEA institutions for students from traditionally under-represented groups. These include students from disadvantaged backgrounds, mature students and travellers. In 2002, the HEA provided over €6 million to support institutions in initiatives aimed at providing for such broadened access.

The 'Foundation Course for Higher Education - Young Adults' in Trinity College is one development which has been funded by the HEA under its targeted initiatives. In this regard, €127,000 was provided by the HEA in 2002.

The HEA has recently invited the Universities and other HEA designated institutions to submit proposals for the targeted initiatives scheme this year. Submissions are due from the institutions over the course of the summer and decisions regarding allocations for 2003 for all access programmes in the
university sector will be taken by the HEA in due course.

Overall, in 2002, a total of €706,000 was provided for access measures in Trinity College, under the targeted initiatives.

My Department also grant aids a number of special projects which are designed to improve access to third level for second level pupils in particular schools in disadvantaged areas. In this regard, my Department provided funding of €36,830 in 2002 for these activities within the Trinity Access Programmes.

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  D a i l  Q u e s t i o n
Order No.  .327
Ref No.      18878|03
Date: 01|07|03
Department Education and Science
Question Writtenl
To ask the Minister how he can justify the persistent delay in the notification of funding for foundation courses and reasons for this delay in lieu of the fact that major planning needs to be carried out in order to run such courses, which hope to begin in three months time
Reply  

In 2001|2002 some colleges supported foundation level courses from funds made available by my Department from its Disadvantaged Initiatives. This was owing to a misinterpretation or lack of clarity in the guidelines issued. This matter was clarified early in 2003 when the Department became aware of the
situation. It has not been the practice of the Department to approve the provision of foundation year courses therefore the question of withdrawal does not arise.

There have been questions raised about the value of putting students from disadvantaged backgrounds through year long foundation courses for some time now. The Commission on the Points System was not convinced that such courses were appropriate for third level institutions and suggested they should be
provided under further education schemes. Equally the Action Group on Third Level Access commented on the need for appropriate validation of such courses and considered that they should not be a requirement for all access students.

The Higher Education Authority has for a number of years provided dedicated funding through its targeted initiatives programme to the universities and other HEA designated institutions to support new developments in areas of strategic importance in higher education. One particular priority area is that
of broadening access to the universities and other HEA designated institutions for students from traditionally under-represented groups.

These include students from disadvantaged backgrounds, mature students and travellers. In 2002, the HEA provided over €6 million to support institutions in initiatives aimed at providing for such broadened access.

The 'Foundation Course for Higher Education - Young Adults' in Trinity College is one development which has been funded by the HEA under its targeted initiatives. In 2002, €127,000 was provided to Trinity College by the HEA. This was part of an overall total of €706,000 provided to support access measures
there.

The HEA has recently invited the Universities and other HEA designated institutions to submit proposals for the targeted initiatives scheme this year. Submissions are due from the institutions over the course of the summer and decisions regarding allocations for 2003 for all access programmes in the
university sector will be taken in due course.

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  D a i l  Q u e s t i o n
Order No.  .330
Ref No.      18881|03
Date: 01|07|03
Department Education
Question Writtenl
To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason foundation course
students cannot receive funding from hardship fundsr
Reply  

Financial support is available to students in approved third level institutions through my Department's Student Assistance Fund, previously known as the Hardship Fund. The objective of the Fund is to assist those students who might, due to their financial circumstances, be unable to continue their third level studies. However, the criteria for the Fund confines eligibility to students participating on courses of not less than one-year duration leading to an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification.


It has not been the practice of my Department to approve the provision of foundation year courses as such. In 2001|2002 some colleges supported foundation level courses from access funds owing to a misinterpretation or lack of clarity in the guidelines issued. This matter was clarified early in 2003 when my Department became aware of the situation. Foundation level courses have never been approved for direct funding by my Department through its third level access programmes.

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  D a i l  Q u e s t i o n
Order No.  .329
Ref No.      18880|03
Date: 01|07|03
Department Education & Science
Question Written
To ask the Minister if his attention has been drawn to the specific recommendations 2.9 and 2.12 made by The Action Group on Access to Third Level Education and how his department plans to implement these recommendations
Reply  

The report of the Action Group on Access to Third Level Education sets out a coordinated framework of actions required to improve equity of access to third-level. The Group considered that a single coordinating body was essential in order to realise the framework. Accordingly, a key recommendation of the Group was that a National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education be established to ensure the effective implementation of many of the recommendations in the report.

I have given approval for the establishment of the National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education, within the Higher Education Authority. My Department is engaged in discussions with the Higher Education Authority with a view to bringing the National Office into operation in time for the academic year 2003|04. I anticipate that the National Office will facilitate the aim of increasing third level access by the three target groups - mature students, students from disadvantaged backgrounds and students with disabilities - in
partnership with my Department, the third level institutions and other stakeholders and agencies.

Under the terms of my Department's higher education grants schemes, an approved course means, inter alia, a full-time undergraduate course of not less that two years duration pursued in an approved third level institution. A one-year foundation course is not an approved course for the purpose of considering
eligibility under the schemes or the free fees initiative.

I have no plans at present to extend the scope of the maintenance grant schemes or the free fees initiative to access courses or to allow for students in receipt of the special rate of maintenance grant to repeat a single year. However, I will keep the recommendations under review.

Decisions on the awards which are acceptable for entry to higher education programmes are the responsibility, in the first instance, of higher education institutions.

The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) is in the process of establishing an outline National Framework of Qualifications and has established its policy and procedures on access, transfer and progression.

Providers whose programmes are validated by the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) or the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC), or with authority delegated by either of the two Councils to make awards themselves, are obliged to implement the procedures for access, transfer and progression established by the NQAI. This group of providers includes
Institutes of Technology, other than the Dublin Institute of Technology, as well as FÁS, Teagasc, CERT and Vocational Education Committees. In addition, the Dublin Institute of Technology is obliged to implement the procedures. The universities, while not obliged to implement them, must consider the procedures.

The NQAI, by exercising its statutory functions and by setting procedures to be implemented by other stakeholders, will contribute to the realisation of many aspects of its composite vision for the provision ofaccess, transfer and progression and I welcome the fact that the Authority has identified a number
of operational principles which will underlie its policies in relation to access, transfer and progression, and the associated procedures that will activate and implement those policies.

I am committed to progressing the recommendations in the report of the Action Group on Access to Third Level Education and to ensuring that the issue of equity of access to third level education remains a priority during my tenure of office as Minister for Education and Science. In this context, the Deputy will be aware that when the current Government first came into office in 1997, spending on third level access measures totalled €508,000. In 2002, this had risen to €23.98 million which represents, by any standards, a quantum leap in committed resources. The 2003 provision is €26 million.

The Deputy will also be aware that, on 25 May, 2003, I announced a new package of measures costing €42m in a full year to further address and ameliorate the problems facing students from low to moderate income households in accessing further education.

This package combines substantial improvements in the level and coverage of the maintenance grant for those on low to moderate incomes, with increases in the level of "Top-up" grant for those who are most disadvantaged. The key elements of the package are as follows:-

Increasing grant levels, including maintenance grants for eligible PLC students, by 15%;

· Extending the thresholds and increasing the gradations as follows:
€0 to €32,000 for full grant;
€32,000 to €34,000 for 75% grant;
€34,000 to €36,000 for half grant;
€36,000 to €38,000 for 25% grant.

Increasing the amount of the "Top-up" grant to the maximum personal rate of Unemployment Assistance; This will benefit eligible grantholders pursuing PLC
courses.

Extending the threshold for the €670 Student Service Charge from €36,897 to €40,000.

I believe that this substantial package of measures will provide the opportunity, in an unprecedented manner, for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their full potential in the education system.

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  D a i l  Q u e s t i o n
Order No.  .134
Ref No.      16218|03
Date: 17|06|03
Department Environment
Question Oral
To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs why child benefit stops at 19 for third level students as opposed to the age they complete their third level course even though they are means tested on their parents income for eligibility for a grant|registration fees to be paid and if the Minister would make a statement on the matter?

To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if there are any plans to pay child benefit for students to the end of their course, and if not, can she justify means testing their parents re grants etc when they are not receiving child benefit or any tax credits for their dependent adult children?
Reply  

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mary Coughlan):

Child benefit is payable in respect of all children up to the age of 16 years and continues to be paid in respect of children up to age 19 who are in full-time education, or who have a physical or mental disability.

The policy of the Government over the past number of years has been to substantially increase the amount spent on child benefit for all families.

The Government's commitment to this policy is reflected in the substantial resources we have invested in the child benefit scheme since 1997, with total expenditure reaching EUR 1.9 billion when the current programme of multi-annual increases is complete.

Child benefit is a monthly payment to parents to assist with the ongoing costs of raising a child. It would not be appropriate to pay it by way of an up-front lump sum in the manner suggested
by the Deputy.

According to figures collected under the Quarterly National Household Survey by the Central Statistics Office for the final quarter of 2002, there were an estimated 116,700 students aged
19 to 22 years. Extending child benefit to this category would therefore cost in the region of EUR185 million per annum.

Any proposals to extend child benefit entitlement to students over 19 years or to all students up to the age of 22 and in full-time education would be costly and would have to be considered in light of available resources and overall budgetary priorities.

The Government has already recognised the need to target resources at persons on low incomes with children in third level. Consequently, child dependent allowances are payable to age 22 where the parent of a full-time third level student is in receipt of a long-term social welfare payment.

From October 2003, child dependent allowances will also be extended to age 22 to people on short term social welfare schemes for six months and where the child is attending a f ull-time course of education or training. The measure is estimated to cost EUR 0.63 million in a full year. (Short term schemes include such payments as unemployment benefit and assistance, disability benefit and supplementary welfare
allowance).

The Higher Education Grant scheme is the responsibility of the Department of Education and Science and the question of the means assessment for the scheme is a matter for that Department.


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