I propose to take Questions Nos. 70, 102, 420 and 421 together.
Many students undertake placements as part of their qualifications. This includes a wide range of health professionals undertaking placements with the HSE and the wider Health Service. Bursaries, stipends, payments and other forms of remuneration are entirely a matter for the Health Service rather than course providers or my department.
However, I am conscious of the difficulties being experienced by students and their families as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and of the importance of the Student Grant Scheme and related supports, such as the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities. These supports have a fundamental role in assisting students and families who are putting their children through further and higher education.
I will now outline the various supports available through my Department to assist higher education students, including student nurses. This includes a range of additional supports which have been put in place for students as part of Budget 2021 and as part of the Government's Covid response earlier this year.
The principal support provided by the Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.
The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) to determine.
For the 2020/21 academic year, student grant applications will be assessed based on gross income from all sources for the period 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019. However, if a student or party to their application experiences a change in circumstances that is not a temporary change and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, they can apply to have their application assessed under the change in circumstances provision of the relevant Student Grant Scheme. The income of all parties to the application will be assessed or reassessed on the current year (2020) and they may also be asked to provide evidence of the current year’s (2020) income.
Further information in relation to student grant assistance is available from SUSI’s website, www.susi.ie. The telephone number for SUSI’s Helpdesk is 0761 087 874.
My Department will spend well over €400 million on student supports in 2020 including the SUSI scheme.
As part of Budget 2021, I have secured an additional €20 million to provide for additional applicants, €6 million to expand supports to postgraduate students and an additional €1.5 million to support the most disadvantaged students through the 1916 Bursary scheme. I have also secured a €50 million fund to support full-time students in third level this year. This is on top of a range of additional supports which have been provided to reflect the particular circumstances of learners affected by the pandemic, including an additional €10m for access supports services, €15m in IT equipment grants and €3m for wellbeing and mental health.
In 2020, my Department will spend circa €450m on access measures for further and higher education students. This includes circa €400m on student grants and related activities, which is expected to benefit approximately 74,000 further and higher education students.
To give an overview of some of the main additional measure put in place:
- I have doubled the level of funding available in the Student Assistance Fund for this academic year;
- I have increased the level of funding for the 1916 Bursary Fund (also known as PATH 2) to €5 million per annum, which will provide an additional 200 bursaries, bringing the total number for 2021 to 1,000 bursaries for the most disadvantaged students in the country;
- I have secured an additional €20 million in funding for SUSI next year to cover increased applications to the scheme;
- I have allocated €6 million to enhance SUSI support for postgraduates;
- I put in place a €15 million scheme to support access to laptops and digital devices;
- I have secured €50 million to provide financial assistance to full time third level students in recognition of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on this group; and
- I have also allocated €3m for wellbeing and mental health.
All students in third-level institutions experiencing exceptional financial need can apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund, which assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Information on the fund is available through the Access Officer in the third level institution attended. Eligible costs include books and other class material that are required to enable students to continue and participate in teaching and learning, rent, heating and lighting bills and other utility bills such as mobile phone data plans, food, essential travel, childcare costs, medical costs and family difficulties. The SAF allocation is €18.2 million for 2020/21, a record increase on previous years. This includes the once off exceptional €8.1 million to help deal with the Covid-19 effect on students in the financial year 2020. In 2019 the allocation for SAF was €10.1m and supported circa 14,000 students. Institutions have the autonomy to maximise the flexibility Student in the Assistance Fund to enable HEIs to support students during the Covid-19 pandemic. This fund is administered on a confidential, discretionary basis.
In addition, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may be claimed in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education including approved undergraduate and postgraduate courses in EU Member States and in non-EU countries. Further information on this tax relief is available from a student's local Tax office or from the Revenue Commissioners website www.revenue.ie
The Deputy will also be aware of the recently announced €168m funding package for the return to education. Within this package, additional funding provided for student supports will be of assistance to many students particularly those with the least financial resources.
This package of Covid 19 supports includes a further €10m in access supports for students. Most of this money will be used to top up the Student Assistance Fund (SAF), with remaining funding of €1.9m going towards a once-off contingency fund of to support the delivery of access and support services to vulnerable students from target groups.
The €1.9m COVID19 Contingency fund for Access and Support Services will assist access offices in HEIs to implement supports to meet the needs of particularly vulnerable students, with priority given to National Access Plan Target groups, who have been most impacted by Covid-19. This includes: entrants from socio-economic groups that have low participation in higher education; Irish Travellers; first time-mature student entrants; students with disabilities; part-time/flexible learners and further education award holders entrants, lone parents and ethnic minorities. Further details about access supports for vulnerable students can be obtained from the access office of the institution attended.
