Four shops were struck off the student smart card scheme last year after they were caught selling unauthorised products which were not for educational purposes.
But besides that, the level of abuse by students of their State-funded smart card is negligible with only €13,285 deemed to be abusive spending from a total of €5.9 million, according to a government study.
With abusive spending making up just 0.2 per cent of the total amount of money granted to students in the form of a smart card, the analysis, conducted by the Stipends Maintenance Board, has dispelled any lingering perception that card money is used for everything but educational purposes.
The study found that students in post-secondary institutions, including university, used their smart card to buy €2.1 million worth of books and €1.3 million worth of computers, among other items.
A similar analysis in 2006 had revealed pretty much the same picture, the head of the maintenance board Mario Schiavone said.
"The only difference this year is there is a slightly higher expenditure on computers and peripherals. The study shows the vast majority of students use their smart card for their educational needs," he said.
The board has a number of inspectors that use smart cards to randomly buy products from authorised shops to determine whether they are abusing the system by selling things unrelated to education.
"Where we find shop owners abusing of the system we warn them and depending on the gravity of the case and whether the abuse was repetitive, we have even struck off shops from the system. Last year four shops were removed," Mr Schiavone said.
At the end of the 2008/2009 academic year in June, students spent more than €800,000 on stationery and almost €650,000 on sports clothes and shoes. Photocopying gobbled up half a million euro while €119,362 were spent on binding services.
Government forked out a whopping €21 million this year in stipends, part of which is given to students in the form of the smart card.
A total of 550 shops accept the card and any purchase has to be on products or services required for educational purposes.
Any outstanding amount on the smart card at the end of a scholastic year is automatically carried over to the next year when the card is once again topped up by a set amount.
Smart card spending
During the academic year 2008/2009 ending in June students conducted 205,675 transactions with their smart cards, spending €5,981,812. This is how they spent the money:
Books: €2,137,942
Computers and peripherals: €1,335,688
Stationery: €804,351
Sports clothes and shoes: €648,581
Photocopying: €500,079
Binding of thesis and notes: €119,362
Electronic gadgets: €53,211
Articles for engineering course: €47,047
Articles for art courses and project models: €45,974
Medical and dental instruments: €32,927
Articles for hair and beauty course: €28,424
Internet services: €26,498
Articles for musical studies: €18,764
Payment for training courses: €9,609
Photographic equipment: €7,293
Bags: €6,429
Payment for theatrical representations: €3,199
Travelling expenses for studying purposes: €3,142
Uniforms and laboratory apparel: €2,372
Printing: €1,669
Architectural instruments: €733
Purchases abroad and from shops that do not accept smart card: €155,237*
Abusive spending: €13,285
* In some cases it is possible for students to purchase educational material and services from unauthorised shops for which they can get a refund deposited in their smart card upon presentation of a receipt.