Fine Gael's proposal for a £36 weekly payment to disadvantaged second-level students has been criticised by the Trinity Access Programme at TCD. Making a payment to students to remain at school is "not going to stop the majority of them from working and is certainly not going to address the real barriers to access" according to Kathleen O'Toole, second-level co-ordinator of the programme.

Creating the potential and the motivation to go to third-level education is a "process that must start early", O'Toole says. Areas such as part-time work, family problems and specific learning disabilities "should be tackled as part of this, but it must be a lot more ambitious than a £36 payment and `rewards' for teachers who run summer camps in poor areas."

The programme's co-ordinator, Cliona Hannon, says that the current higher education grant (maximum £1,775) "would not even cover the average annual rent in Dublin" and has called for the sum to be doubled.