Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 November 2014
915. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to rectify the anomaly within procedures for assessing entitlement for the special rate of the Student Universal Support Ireland grant, particularly in circumstances where a parent is in receipt of illness benefit but has actually lost their job and cannot receive the special rate of grant. [41881/14]
View answerThe qualifying criteria for the special rate of maintenance grant in the 2014/15 academic year as specified under the 2014 student grant scheme is as follows:
1. Student must qualify for the standard rate of grant;
2. Total reckonable income net of income disregards and Child Dependant Increase must not exceed €22,703;
3. As at 31st December, 2013, the reckonable income must include one of the eligible long-term social welfare payments prescribed in the Student Grant Scheme. Illness Benefit is considered to be a short-term social welfare payment and, therefore, it is not included as an eligible payment for the purposes of the special rate of maintenance grant. It is not proposed to depart from the existing arrangements for the determination of the eligibility for the special rate of maintenance grant.
