Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 273: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his views on section 47 of the proposed Equality Bill 2004 which allows the Minister to discriminate on the basis of race (details supplied) when providing further and higher education grants. [9951/04]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Since 1995, the student support schemes provide that candidates must hold EU nationality, have official refugee status or have been granted humanitarian leave to remain in the State. The Equal Status Act 2000 provides at section 7(3)(d)(i) and (ii) that the charging of differentiated fees to EU and non-EU nationals by the institutions of further and higher education, as well as the offering of assistance to particular classes of persons by those institutions, does not constitute discrimination within the meaning of the Act.

Notwithstanding those provisions, the Department of Education and Science has been advised, in the context of a hearing of a complaint in the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations in 2003, that the current nationality provisions in the student support schemes is discriminatory within the terms of the Equal Status Act 2000. The amendment in the Equality Bill 2004 is grounded on my firm belief that the conditions for students grants should be the same as for the charging of fees by the institutions, namely, it provides that the Minister for Education and Science will have discretion as to whether the grounds should be restricted to EU nationals or varied between EU national and non-EU nationals.

In this context, the Deputy may be aware that from the current academic year, I decided to expand the provision in the schemes to include candidates who:

have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to an Irish national residing in the State, or be the child of such person, not having EU nationality; or

have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to a national of another EU member state who is residing in the State and who is or has been employed, or self-employed, in the State, or be the child of such a person, not having EU nationality; or

be nationals of a member country of the European Economic Area (EEA).

The approach in the proposed amendment in the Equality Bill is consistent with the spirit and intent of the Equal Status Act 2000, which recognised the need for a differentiated approach to tuition fees. I am satisfied that identified and justified needs of particular categories can be taken into account in the context of the annual review of the schemes.