Student in Supreme Court Appeal

A North Clare student, supported by the Union of Students of Ireland, has filed a Supreme Court Appeal against “unfair and unjust cuts” to student grants.

Medb McCarthy and another student served both the Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn and the chief state solicitor with notice that they intend to appeal the High Court verdict of Mr Justice Hedigan in relation to cuts to student grants to the Supreme Court.

Medb from Burrin, between New Quay and Kinvara, and two other students had sought a Judicial Review in the High Court of cuts made to the Higher Education Maintenance Grant Scheme in Budget 2011.

In December 2010, the then government announced changes to the grants system, whereby the non-adjacent grant threshold went from 24 kilometres to 45 kilometres. In previous years, eligible students from south of Ardrahan were entitled to the full non-adjacent grant rate if attending classes in NUI Galway.

Now, they must be more than 45km from where they attend third-level education to qualify so in the case of NUIG, they must be south of Tubber or west of Finavarra. Students from Ennis are within 45km of Limerick Institute of Technology and therefore will no longer be entitled to the non-adjacent maintenance grant. The Government announced the change in the 2011 Budget, claiming that improvements to public transport make it more feasible to commute from long distances. USI insists this is not the case and that thousands are facing unmanageable cuts as a result.

The students had sought the judicial review on two grounds – namely that they had a legitimate expectation that they would continue to receive the non-adjacent rate of the grant and secondly, that the minister had breached Section 6 of the Student Support Act 2011.

Mr Justice Hedigan found in favour of the minister in the High Court and it is this decision that is being appealed.

“Students across the country were bitterly disappointed with the High Court’s verdict in April and what it will mean for thousands of hard-pressed families across the country, who are struggling to keep the lights on and food on the table. Based on strong legal advice, we believe Mr Justice Hedigan was mistaken when assessing if the students had a legitimate expectation and in his interpretation of Section 6 of the Student Support Act 2011 and on this basis we have decided to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court,” said USI president, Gary Redmond.