Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2015
187. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide the details of estrangement conditions set out in the student grant scheme; if other evidence of estrangement or independence will be considered suitable to have grants awarded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3115/15]
View answerFor student grants purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course or of re-entry following a break in studies of at least three years and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous October. Otherwise he or she would continue to be assessed on the basis of parental income. Only in exceptional cases, where compelling evidence of estrangement from parents/guardians is provided, can candidates who are under 23 be assessed without reference to their parents/guardians income or address, Article 21(3)(b) of the Scheme refers. The assessment of a case of estrangement is carefully considered to ensure there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the exceptional circumstances pertaining in such cases genuinely exists. The type of evidence required is dependent on the applicant's individual circumstances. It is recognised that estrangement from one's parents will be as a consequence of specific and unique circumstances and thus the evidence to support that will be specific and unique to an applicant. In order that an awarding authority can satisfy itself that the conditions of the Student Grant Scheme are being met, the compelling independent evidence provided for each individual case must be consistent and corroborative in nature and demonstrate that there is genuine and irreconcilable estrangement.
