Student grants - Delays cause hardship

BARELY a week ago, Education Minister Noel Dempsey pledged to focus his energies on combating educational disadvantage.

Yet we now learn of administrative delays in his department that will mean hardships for tens of thousands of students.

As a result, application forms for maintenance grants for third level students will be four weeks late reaching the relevant bodies. This despite the problem being highlighted for the past two months by the umbrella group for vocational education committees.