Assessing capital assets and income for student grants unfair – Deputy Seán Crowe

Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson Deputy Seán Crowe has voiced concerns at proposals which if implemented, would include the assessment of capital assets and income when means testing student grants in the 2013-2014 academic year.

A summer report proposing inclusion of capital assets as well as income in the case of applicants for student grants is to be presented to Education Minister Ruairí Quinn.

Deputy Crowe said: “If the proposals that were announced in the Budget include assessing capital and productive assets for student grant applications, this will unfairly penalise farmers, landowners and people who are self-employed.

“It would be a further blow to rural Ireland as it would exclude many students from farming backgrounds from availing of grants to help pay of their third level education.

“This retrograde step fails to take into account a number of factors, including how farming incomes and related assets fluctuate on a monthly basis. Put simply, it would be a very unfair way of assessing applicants and would be yet another barrier to students wishing to further their studies.

“There are worrying signs that the Minister is preparing to renegade on his pre-election pledges not to introduce third level fees. This week we had the Higher Education Authority (HEA) warning that an annual college fee of up to €6000 would be necessary to meet the projected increase in demand for third level places.

“These are worrying times for the third level Irish education sector,” concluded Deputy Crowe.