Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 March 2023
549. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the financial supports available to a US student with an Irish passport who wishes to complete her third-level studies in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15034/23]
View answerUnder the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.
With regard to the residency criterion, in order to be eligible for a grant, a "student", as defined in Section 14 of the Student Support Act 2011, must demonstrate that he/she has been resident in the State for at least three years out of the five year period ending on the day before the start of his/her approved course of study. This rule is applied equally to everyone, regardless of their individual circumstances. It has, for example, been applied to refugees and Irish citizens returning from periods working abroad.
The three out of five year rule takes cognisance of students who wish to take time out to travel or work abroad. Such students can still meet the residency requirement if they have not been outside the State for more than two of the previous five years. It is worth pointing out that similar and in some cases more restrictive residency criteria apply in other member States e.g. in the UK a student has to be resident for the three years immediately preceding his/her commencement in college.It is also possible for a student who did not meet the residency requirement at the start of their studies to meet it during the course of their studies and become eligible for a student grant for the following academic year, provided they meet all other criteria of the Student Grant Scheme.
