Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2016
251. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to increase or review the Student Universal Support Ireland Student grant due to spiralling rent prices in areas such as Dublin; the measures in place to deal with this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20655/16]
View answerThe eligibility criteria for student grants is reviewed annually in my Department and approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The statutory Student Grant Scheme and Student Support Regulations for the 2016/17 academic year were published by my Department on 7 April, 2016.
The Student Grant Scheme for 2016/17 contains a number of positive changes to the previous scheme. These include:
- an extension to the qualifying criteria for receiving the special rate of maintenance grant and the inclusion of a number of additional income disregards
- new benefits for 'second chance students' who return to education
- the first increase in 15 years in the amount of holiday earnings that students can exclude from their reckonable income for grant assessment purposes. This threshold has been increased from €3,809 to €4,500 for the 2016/17 student grant scheme.
The Student Grant Scheme for 2016/17 is expected to benefit more than 80,000 students at a cost of approximately €380m. Any future changes to the level of student grant will have to be taken in the context of overall budgetary constraints. I have just published the report by the Expert Group, chaired by Peter Cassells, which examined funding arrangements for higher education and has presented options for developing a sustainable long term funding strategy for the sector. I am referring the report to the relevant cross-party Oireachtas Committee for comprehensive examination and discussion, in an effort to build a consensus on a plan for the future direction of the funding model for higher education in Ireland.
