Barry Cowen
Question:95. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated full year cost of increasing the student assistance fund to peak levels in 2012-2013. [19429/18]
View answerThursday, 3 May 2018
Questions (95)
Written answers
In December 2012, an additional €3 million was approved to supplement the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) following a survey conducted by the HEA in relation to the demand for the Fund.
This supplementary funding was a once-off exceptional measure which was taken in the context of long grant delays/issues encountered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) in its initial year of operation.
An additional allocation of €1.5m was secured in budget 2016 for the Student Assistance Fund. A further €1m was secured in budget 2017 to extend the Student Assistance Fund to part-time students. The allocation under the Fund for the 2017/18 is €9.1 million.