This article is from page 4 of the 2006-10-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE construction of a €100 million road has lengthened the car journey between Shannon and Limerick.
The finding has been made by the Clare VEC and could result in a windfall of up to €100,000 in retrospective payments in grant monies owed to Shannon students studying in Limerick’s third level colleges.
Students qualifying for grants receive an annual “adjacent grant” of €1,245 if living within 15 miles of the third level college they are studying in and a grant of €3,110 “non adjacent grant” if living beyond the 15-mile radius.
However, the survey commissioned by the VEC in recent days has now placed Shannon outside the 15-mile radius of Limerick as a result of the works completed on the N18-19 three years ago.
CEO of Clare VEC, George O’Callaghan confirmed yesterday the construction of the new road had resulted in a greater road distance between the two centres.
“Following a re-evaluation of the distance by the VEC, we found that the distance between Limerick and Shannon due to new access roads to Shannon has resulted in Shannon being at a longer distance from Limerick,” he said.
He said that Shannon-based students in Limerick would qualify for additional grant monies in the current college year. The are now set to receive an additional €1,855 each.
Mr O’Callaghan said that the survey was carried out as a result of a query from a Shannon-based parent of a student going to college in Limerick.
Shannon-based councillor, Tony Mulcahy (FG) said that he drove from Mary Immaculate College of Education in Limerick to a student’s house in Shannon town and the distance was 15.9 miles.
“Since the road did not open until November 2003, we are talking about retrospective payments for 2004 and 2005 and I would estimate with the large number of students from Shannon studying in Limerick and the numbers receiving grants, the VEC will have to pay out around €100,000.”
Welfare Officer with the University of Limerick (UL) students’ union, Sinead Hickey yesterday called on the students who missed out on the full grant in 2004 and 2005 to be fully reimbursed.
She said: “This should have been noticed when the road was being constructed.”
Mr O’Callaghan said that the Clare VEC would be visiting the issue of retrospective applications in the near future.