The way higher education grants are assessed needs to be overhauled to prevent the children of asset rich families from qualifying, a new report has claimed.
The study into the grant system, commissioned by the Department of Education, looks set to land a hot potato into the lap of the next Government.
A copy of the study, leaked to the Irish Independent, is believed to recommend that the Government scrap the system of allocating grants on the basis of declared income and replace it with a means test which also examines fixed assets.
The paper claims that the current system “does not command public confidence” as it fails to target resources to those “most in need of support”.
Some 13 per cent of new grants awarded in 2008/09 went to children whose parents fell into the category of managers, professionals or employers. One in 11 went to asset rich farmers.
The report concluded that the aimed for 50 per cent expansion of higher education would not come about while the free fees system, in its current form, is in place.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
