Grant rise is not enough, says USI

EDUCATION Minister Noel Dempsey is “living in cuckoo land” if he thinks the increase in maintenance grants announced yesterday will benefit students, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) said yesterday.

Mr Dempsey said up to 56,000 students will benefit from an increase in grants in the new academic year.

But USI president, Will Priestley said: “The announcement of an increase in the grants scheme is merely cosmetic alterations in the grand scheme of things. The system for those going to college is grossly inadequate. If the Minister thinks that these increases will solve the problems students face then he is living in cloud cuckoo-land.”

He added that current grant levels do not cover rent for students in large urban areas and force many to live at home instead of taking the course they really want.

Labour also claimed that grants are too low for students who are being forced to work long hours in part-time jobs to pay for food and accommodation.

Party spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan added that the means test system required greater examination.

“A family can be means-tested without any assessment of assets taking place. This creates an anomaly in the grants system in favour of people with substantial assets such as large farmers, business people and the self-employed,” she said.

However, Mr Dempsey said the grant schemes would give priority to addressing inequities in participation of students from the lower socio-economic groups through the special rates of maintenance grant.

He announced an increase of 18.6% in the “top-up” element for the 2004/5 academic year over last year’s €42 million allocation. He said the non-adjacent rate will be increased by €1,910 to €4,855, based on the maximum personal rate of Social Welfare Unemployment Assistance. The adjacent rate rise by €765 to €1,945.

The minister said 10,000 students will benefit from a 6.8% increase in the annual income threshold, set at €14,693, for the special rates of maintenance grant.

The ordinary maintenance grant rises by 2%, in line with inflation, to offer a maximum support of 2,945 in the new academic year.

The top income limit is increased from €40,000 to €42,360 which, said the minister, ensures a significant higher number of students from households with moderate incomes will not have to pay a student service charge of €750.