Means-testing of farm assets will be fair, says Minister for Education

Means-testing of farm assets for third-level grants will make a “very clear distinction” between those essential for running a business and other investment-type assets, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said.

Opposition is mounting to plans to means-test farmers, with a number of Fine Gael TDs speaking publicly against the measure. But Mr Quinn said he wanted to see a fair system in place and that the current one “is not fair”. About 38 per cent of third-level students get some form of grant. “It costs €336 million of taxpayers’ money. That has to be administered fairly,” Mr Quinn said.

There were “means-tested systems in this country for health and social welfare that do include assets”.

He said: “I don’t think anybody can reasonably assert a principle that this sector of wealth cannot be examined or looked at” and he pointed to a report on the issue written almost 20 years ago.

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics programme, he said they had made a “very clear distinction between working capital assets that are intrinsically essential to the operation of the business itself and additional assets, savings, other kinds of commodities and wealth assets which are not part and parcel of the income”.

These should be taken into account above “a certain threshold level”, he said. The reforms would introduce an “element of fairness across the spectrum of wealth” in order to get “some equity into the grant system”.

The Minister’s proposals will come to Cabinet after Easter.

Last week Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney denied any rift with the Minister for Education. Mr Coveney reiterated his comments to Fine Gael TDs that “no proposals had come to Government yet on this issue” but said that he had made his views clear to Ruairí Quinn.

Mr Coveney added: “I understand he has a job to do as well in terms of reviewing means-testing for third-level grants. I have a very good relationship with Ruairí Quinn on this issue but until there is a proposal in front of Cabinet there is no decision to be made.”

Mr Quinn also said there was no rift. “Simon and myself have a good working relationship. He has his point of view and he has said very clearly we have to discuss this at Cabinet and we have to get the facts on it.”