Westmeath County Council has confirmed that it has no current plans to ask people applying for student grants whether or not they have paid the household charge.
A spokesperson for the council confirmed the stance after Cllr Aidan Davitt posed a question at Tuesday’s meeting of Mullingar Town Council, asking the council whether it intended to follow in the footsteps of certain other councils in the matter.
The question came in light of reports last week that some local authorities, including Clare and South Tipperary County councils, had been asking prospective students applying for grants to provide proof that they had paid the household charge.
Cllr Davitt said he had been “disturbed” to see the household charge being used as a bargaining tool and held over students’ heads in this manner.
“I am glad to see Westmeath County Council has higher moral fibre,” he said.
