Students union accused of ‘fudge’ on reforming grant system

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is urging the department of education to relax the thresholds for accessing student grants to eliminate "inequalities" from the system.

In a policy paper on grant reform, however, the student group expresses opposition to any move towards including assets in eligibility assessments - something that has been regularly advocated to level the playing field for PAYE workers.

"While it can be appreciated that the State does not want to see those rich in assets and low in income seek benefits they may be able to afford, USI would have concerns with how this may be handled," the union said.

The proposals were presented at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection whose chairman Labour TD Joanna Tuffy accused the USI of doing "a bit of a fudge" on the issue.

Ms Tuffy said the exclusion of assets favoured students in rural areas over those in urban ones, and also the self-employed over PAYE workers. There were instances of doctors getting grants for their children whereas bus drivers failed to do so and “I feel the USI should show leadership on this”, she said.

Conor Stitt, USI vice president for the border, midlands and west region, said the union would support the establishment of a strategic group to look at the issue but it should distinguish between assets such as farms and a "classic car collection".

In its policy document, the USI said the family home should not be assessed, and nor should any asset which was “the primary source of income for the family e.g. the family farm”.

In addition, “trusts in the name of the applicant which are left on the basis of betterment of the applicant in life for reasons outside of third level education funding should not be brought under consideration.”

It said: “If assets were to be considered in means-testing, many citizens may feel that they are told by the State to sell their assets to fund their child’s education.

“However, this asset may or may not be an income generating asset, which, in future is envisaged to support the family e.g. holding land so it may be inheritance or support in old age.”

The USI proposes a range of other reforms, including the reversal of measures introduced in Budget 2011 that made it more difficult for students to claim the maximum rate of assistance.

To receive a higher “non-adjacent” rate of maintenance the applicant must have a home address more than 45 km from their college. The USI said this distance should be reduced to the pre-budget range of 24 km. In addition, there should be a “rural exemption” or else a further decrease in this rate for rural colleges with poor transport links.

The union also proposes changes to the maintenance system to help independent students who are estranged from their families, as well as mature students and those who lose parental support through bereavement or marital breakdown.

A number of reports have called for capital assets such as farms to be taken into account in assessments, stretching back to the 1997 de Buitléir report which concluded that the current means test "is defective in that… it ignores the accumulated wealth of individuals. Some people with clearly expensive lifestyles obtain grants while others, who are very hard-pressed, lose out."

The issue was raised in Government last year after former minister for education Ruairí Quinn learnt of a farmer, with €300,000 in the bank, who got a student grant for his child.

Mr Quinn prepared a memo for cabinet proposing that assets above a certain threshold would be considered but Fine Gael blocked it from being brought to cabinet.