(Limerick-East): In the case of a student who takes up employment for two years is eligibility for a grant purposes decided on the means of the working student or the parents in the leaving certificate year?

It is normally decided on the circumstances that obtained in the year in which he sat the examination. The situation is that, if he completed employment and then applied for a grant, the assumption is that he would be giving up employment so that he would not have an income of his own on which to be assessed. If the Deputy would table a question——

(Limerick-East): Is the Minister aware that the difficulty and stupidity of the present grant scheme is that regardless of the age of the student, the assessment is always made by reference to the means of the parents in the year of certification? In the cases where a student is married and has a child he is still assessed on the means of the parents. Would the Minister look at the situation with a view to removing this ridiculous anomaly?

I should prefer if the Deputy did not use colourful descriptions. In fairness to any schemes in operation, including this, one must begin by having a set of rules. I recall that when the scheme was introduced it only operated for students who took up the grant in the year in which they sat the examination. It was to improve the scheme that the two year deferral was introduced. Various other improvements have been built into the scheme since it was introduced. It is unfortunate to refer to an improvement as stupid. I recognise that there is always scope for further improvement.

(Limerick-East): I suppose it is under review.

28.