Potential third level students hoping to enrol for GMIT professional cookery or bar management course have been dealt a severe blow with the abolition of their maintenance grant, according to the Fine Gael spokesperson on Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Michael Ring.
“I have been contacted by a number of constituents who are extremely distressed as they had planned to start either the professional cookery or bar management course in GMIT,” Dep Ring said. “They have just learned from their local VECs that Fáilte Ireland will no longer provide maintenance for this course. This has thrown those accepted onto the courses into turmoil because without the maintenance grant they will not be able to accept the course. They simply don’t know what to do as Fáilte Ireland have removed the maintenance grant that they used to give to students on these courses.”
After contacting Fáilte Ireland, Dep Ring was informed in correspondence that “given the recent increases in fees structures, and in order to facilitate the maximum number of hospitality students to enrol in college, we will continue to pay student tuition and capitation fees in full, although we will no longer be in a position to pay students a maintenance grant”.
Fáilte Ireland added that these new arrangements will not affect students already in the college system.
“For a lot of students who had already enrolled in those courses for this year, the decision to withdraw the funding has come too late,” concluded Dep Ring.
