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Student Grant Scheme Eligibility

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Ceisteanna (425)

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

425. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of reducing the current residency criteria for access to the SUSI grant from three to two of the past five years. [25454/18]

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Freagraí scríofa

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 3 years out of the 5 year period ending on the day before the start of his/her approved course of study.

This requirement 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 also possible for students, who did not meet the residency requirement at the commencement of their studies, to have their eligibility reviewed if they meet the residency requirement during the course of their studies.

Similar and in some cases more restrictive residency requirements apply in other EU Member States. For example, in the UK a student must be resident for the three years prior to commencing his/her studies. In Denmark, a student has to be resident for five years prior to commencing studies.

It is not possible to cost a proposal to reduce the residency requirement to two out of five years. Reducing the residency requirement will attract additional students, including other EU students not currently resident in the State, who currently don’t apply to SUSI. As such, it is difficult to predict what the impact of such a change would be.

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