Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 September 2018
85. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of removing the anomaly in which lone parents in receipt of one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transition payment and rent supplement are not eligible for SUSI maintenance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39309/18]
View answerIn general terms, there is nothing preventing a lone parent who is in receipt of Rent Supplement, One Parent Family Payment and/or Jobseeker's Allowance Transition payment(s) from applying to SUSI for maintenance funding under the Student Grant Scheme. As such no additional costs would accrue.
Rent Supplement, Housing Assistance Payment, Rental Accommodation Scheme, One Parent Family Payments (where paid to the applicant) and Jobseeker's Allowance Transition (where paid to the applicant), are all treated as income disregards for the purposes of the Student Grant Scheme and are not included in the calculation of reckonable income. Furthermore, the One Parent Family Payment and Jobseekers Allowance Transition payments are eligible payments for the special rate of maintenance grant.
If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI.Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board within the required timeframe.
