Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 July 2014
270. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the Student Universal Support Ireland has recently added the additional requirement of providing a copy of a passport with the multitude of other documentation provided by applicants including a PPS number, thereby adding an additional cost to parents. [29682/14]
View answerUnder the terms of the student grant scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those which relate to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.
The awarding authorities are obliged to satisfy themselves beyond doubt that an acceptable degree of proof has been submitted by the grant applicant in establishing eligibility under all aspects of the schemes. The onus is on the grant applicant to provide the necessary documentary evidence as requested by the relevant grant awarding authority.
The requirement to provide a passport to prove nationality is not a new requirement of SUSI, and has always been in place where the nationality of an applicant requires clarification.
