Claire Kerrane
Ceist:340. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if referrals to JobPath will cease in December 2021 as planned. [34096/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraEmployment Schemes
Ceisteanna (340)
Freagraí scríofa
JobPath provides employment assistance and advice to the long-term unemployed on behalf of my Department. The current JobPath contracts were originally due to expire at the end of 2020. Last October, however, in addition to contract renewals to the local employment services, job clubs and EmployAbility, I announced an extension of referrals to the JobPath service for a further 12 months until the end of 2021. This was in the context of Covid-19 restrictions which made the procurement of new services extremely difficult and placed a premium on a continuity of services.
While new referrals will cease at the end of December 2021, there will be a run-off period to enable existing clients to complete their engagement with the service. These measures were taken in order to ensure that the public employment service had sufficient capacity to support those impacted by the pandemic with access to employment services throughout 2021.
Youth Work Supports
Ceisteanna (341)
Claire Kerrane
Ceist:341. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons who have been on the youth employment support scheme since it was established; if the findings of the internal review carried out on the scheme will be shared; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34097/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) was introduced on 1st October 2018 and has been open to applications since. YESS targeted young jobseekers aged between 18 and 24 who are long-term unemployed or who face barriers to employment. The scheme aimed to provide jobseekers with the opportunity to learn basic work and social skills in a supportive environment while on a work placement. The scheme provided a supportive structure for participants, including case worker support for both placement hosts and jobseekers.
Since the scheme's inception, a total of 1,000 people have commenced a placement, with 50 jobseekers currently on YESS placements.
The type of work experience undertaken by participants involved roles across a number of different sectors including community and voluntary, hospitality and food, ICT and telecoms, manufacturing, retail, sales and marketing, science and healthcare and construction. Recruitment to the scheme in the scheme was severely affected by Covid-19 from 2020, with fewer hosts advertising vacancies due to impact of COVID-19 public health restrictions on business operations and employment.
An internal review of the first year of the YESS programme, from October 2018 to October 2019, is underway. The report of this review has not been finalised due to demands of other work on foot of the pandemic. It is intended that once the new work placement programme commences in line with the Economic Recovery Plan, a full review and evaluation of YESS will be undertaken and made available. It is anticipated that this will be finalised over the coming months.
Social Welfare Rates
Ceisteanna (342)
Catherine Connolly
Ceist:342. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of a €1 increase in each of the social insurance schemes, social assistance schemes, other weekly schemes and other schemes payments in tabular form (details supplied). [34112/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The estimated cost of increasing each weekly social welfare payment by €1 is shown in the table below.
|
Payment |
Personal €m |
Qualified Adult €m |
Total €m |
|
Social Insurance Schemes |
|
|
|
|
State Pension (Contributory) |
€ 22.0 |
€ 3.0 |
€ 25.0 |
|
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Con) Pension |
€ 6.2 |
|
€ 6.2 |
|
Deserted Wife's Benefit |
€ 0.3 |
|
€ 0.3 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
€ 3.1 |
€ 0.2 |
€ 3.3 |
|
Partial Capacity Benefit |
€ 0.1 |
€ 0.0 |
€ 0.1 |
|
Guardian's Payment (Contributory) |
€ 0.1 |
|
€ 0.1 |
|
Disablement Pension |
€ 0.2 |
|
€ 0.2 |
|
Illness Benefit |
€ 2.5 |
€ 0.1 |
€ 2.6 |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit |
€ 6.6 |
€ 0.4 |
€ 7.0 |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit (Self Employed) |
€ 0.2 |
€ 0.0 |
€ 0.2 |
|
Carer's Benefit |
€ 0.2 |
|
€ 0.2 |
|
Maternity & Adoptive Benefit |
€ 1.0 |
|
€ 1.0 |
|
Paternity & Parent's Benefit |
€ 0.1 |
|
€ 0.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Social Assistance Schemes |
|
|
|
|
State Pension (Non Con) |
€ 5.0 |
€ 0.1 |
€ 5.1 |
|
Blind Person's Pension |
€ 0.1 |
€ 0.0 |
€ 0.1 |
|
Widow/ers or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Con) Pension |
€ 0.1 |
|
€ 0.1 |
|
One-Parent Family Payment |
€ 2.1 |
|
€ 2.1 |
|
Carer's Allowance |
€ 2.6 |
|
€ 2.6 |
|
Half Rate Carer's Allowance |
€ 1.1 |
|
€ 1.1 |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance Max Rate |
€ 6.4 |
€ 1.1 |
€ 7.5 |
|
JA age 18 to 24 |
€ 0.7 |
€ 0.0 |
€ 0.7 |
|
Disability Allowance |
€ 8.0 |
€ 0.6 |
€ 8.6 |
|
Farm Assist |
€ 0.3 |
€ 0.1 |
€ 0.4 |
|
Employment Support Schemes (BTWA & BTEA) |
€ 0.7 |
€ 0.1 |
€ 0.8 |
|
Employment/Internship Schemes (CE, Tús, RSS etc.) |
€ 1.7 |
€ 0.3 |
€ 2.0 |
|
Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
€ 0.7 |
€ 0.1 |
€ 0.8 |
|
TOTAL* |
€ 72.1 |
€ 6.1 |
€ 78.2 |
*Rounding may affect totals.
|
Cost of €1 Change - Weekly Schemes |
€m |
|
Pensioners - Aged 66 years and over |
€ 35.5 |
|
Working Age - Aged under 66 years |
|
|
People With Disabilities |
€ 12.3 |
|
Carers |
€ 3.4 |
|
All Other Rates |
€ 24.3 |
|
Employment Supports/Internships |
€ 2.7 |
|
|
|
|
Overall Total |
€ 78.2 |
|
Changes to Other Schemes/Payments |
€m |
|
€1 change in the monthly rate of Child Benefit |
€ 15.0 |
|
€1 change in the rate of Fuel Allowance |
€ 10.5 |
|
Change to the duration of the Fuel Allowance - cost of an additional week |
€ 10.5 |
|
€1 change in the rate of Qualified Child Increase - age under 12 |
€ 10.8 |
|
€1 change in the rate of Qualified Child Increase - age 12 and over |
€ 6.8 |
|
€1 change in the rate of Living Alone Allowance (for everyone) |
€ 11.3 |
|
- Pensioners only |
€ 9.1 |
|
- Other schemes (Invalidity Pension, Disability Allowance, Blind Pension |
€ 2.2 |
The costs shown above are based on the estimated number of recipients in 2021. These costings are subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients.
Social Welfare Benefits
Ceisteanna (343)
Brendan Griffin
Ceist:343. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if clarification will be provided on a matter (details supplied) in relation to child benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34154/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Child benefit is a payment made in respect of a child for the purpose of meeting some of the cost of child rearing. Under the relevant child benefit legislation, it is only payable to one parent, usually the mother.
If the child resides part time with both parents, the benefit is payable to the mother unless the child resides with the father for more than 50% of the time. As a result, it is not possible to split the payment between the parents, even when the caring duties are shared.
In common with all other schemes of the Department, qualifying conditions for Child Benefit are kept under review to ensure that the best interests of the children are prioritised.
i hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Parental Leave
Ceisteanna (344)
Claire Kerrane
Ceist:344. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will consider extending the full ten weeks parent’s leave and benefit to lone parents who are parenting alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34080/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Under the Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 each parent of a child is entitled to two weeks of paid Parent’s Leave and the Family Leave Act 2021 increased this entitlement to 5 weeks for each parent.
The intention of Parent's Leave is to enable parents to spend time with their child in the earliest years and is deliberately non-transferrable between parents to ensure that both parents are encouraged and supported in taking time out from work to spend time with their child.
The entitlement under the Acts is for each parent in their own right, regardless of whether they are in a relationship or live together. The Acts were drafted in such a way as to comprehend the broad complexion of family life and allows for an entitlement for the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the parent. It is important to note that the entitlement to Parent’s Leave is for the individual parent. It is not an allocation per family.
Under Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2019/1158, commonly known as the Work-Life Balance Directive, Member States must provide for each worker to have an individual right to parental leave, two months of which cannot be transferred. Parent’s Leave and Benefit was introduced with a view to transposition of the Directive.
Magdalen Laundries
Ceisteanna (345, 346, 347)
Kathleen Funchion
Ceist:345. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the funding allocated to the Magdalen restorative justice ex-gratia scheme; the number of applications approved and paid to date; the average payment; the number of in progress applications; the number of applications that are ineligible; the number of applications appealed; the number of applications awaiting probate; and the number of applications withdrawn in tabular form. [34229/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraKathleen Funchion
Ceist:346. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the funding allocated to the Magdalen restorative justice ex-gratia scheme for administrative purposes including staffing, legal and premises costs. [34230/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraKathleen Funchion
Ceist:347. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the other supports that have been put in place to assist the former residents of the institutions outside of the Magdalen restorative justice ex-gratia scheme including the overall spend on health, housing, educational and counselling services; and the initial allocation and final spend, respectively, in tabular form. [34231/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 345 to 347, inclusive, together.
To date, just over €32.4m has been paid in lump sum payments to 808 applicants to the Magdalen Laundries Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme.
The scheme provides a once off lump sum tax free payment which varies from €11,500 to €100,000 depending on length of stay in a relevant institution, a pension type payment equivalent to the value of the State Pension (Contributory) paid at State pension age and, an enhanced medical card pursuant to the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Act, 2015. Applicants who have not yet reached State pension age may qualify for a pension type payment of €100 per week to bring them to a weekly income of that amount at a minimum.
Officials from within the relevant Government Departments deal with the various aspects of the Scheme so there is no additional costs associated with staff or premises.
The staff of the Implementation Unit in my Department continue to engage with the Magdalen women and advise them on all aspects of the application process and their other entitlements.
All services are being provided on a cross Departmental basis, for example, all pension entitlements and advice is provided by a nominated person in the Department of Social Protection and all health services including counselling is provided by the HSE in accordance with the 2015 Act and those Departments are best placed to provide the costs associated with those services. The Citizens Advice Bureau is available to all citizens and provides advice on a range of issues including housing. Justice John Quirke in devising the Magdalen Ex-Gratia Scheme considered the women’s lack of Education and their living conditions in the criteria he determined to be relevant in the calculation of the amount of the ex-gratia payment.
All successful applicants to the Scheme are advised to seek legal advice prior to accepting their offer. The State pays a for that advice to a maximum amount of €500 plus VAT per applicant. To date, €511,224 has been paid in legal fees associated with the scheme.
The Review of applications where there was a dispute over length of stay in a relevant institution is being conducted by a Senior Counsel assisted by Junior Counsel. To date €1,114,028 has been paid in professional fees for that service.
The table attached sets out the status of all applications received to date and those under review.
Question No. 346 answered with Question No. 345.
Question No. 347 answered with Question No. 345.
Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Ceisteanna (348)
Kathleen Funchion
Ceist:348. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 90 and 976 of 15 June 2021, the breakdown of the figure referred to of the €7.2 million weekly cost of the enhanced employment wage subsidy scheme rate for childcare, of employment wage subsidy scheme, pay and non-employment wage subsidy scheme pay from the start of the scheme on 1 September 2020 to end of Q3, 2021; and the allocation and amount drawn down for this period. [33967/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The EWSS is an economy-wide enterprise support for eligible businesses in respect of eligible employees under the auspices of the Department of Finance and administered by Revenue. As set out in Revenue guidance, the scheme has two elements as follows:
- It provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the numbers of paid and eligible employees on the employer’s payroll; and
- It charges a reduced rate of employer PRSI of 0.5% on wages paid which are eligible for the subsidy payment.
To qualify for the EWSS, as well as having tax clearance, employers must be able to show that their business experienced a 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders over a defined period. However, Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare (ELC/SAC) Employers registered in accordance with Section 58C of the Child Care Act 1991 are included in the EWSS with no turnover test.
For planning purposes, my Department has undertaken some estimates of the scale of this support for the ELC/SAC sector. The figures provided below are based on data from a number of sources and underpinned by a series of assumptions so should be interpreted with caution and considered as indicative only. It is also important to note that they refer only to potential allocation, not drawdown.
When introduced in September 2021, the standard EWSS rates applied (as set out in the table below). Based on these figures and estimates about wages in the sector, the weekly cost of EWSS for the ELC/SAC sector was estimated to be €4.8m.
|
Gross weekly pay |
Standard Rates |
|
Less than €151.50 |
Nil |
|
€151.50 – €202.99 |
€151.50 |
|
€203 - €1,462 |
€203 |
|
Over €1,462 |
Nil |
With these rates, ELC/SAC services were estimated to have approximately 60% of payroll costs covered. This equated to approximately 38% of the usual operating costs of these services – allowing services to operate sustainably in a context of lower occupancy and higher delivery costs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The rate of subsidy employers receive per paid eligible employee under EWSS was revised on 20 October (as set out in the table below). As announced by the Minister for Finance on 1st June, these revised rates remain in place until end September 2021.
Work undertaken by my Department indicates that, further to the introduction of the revised rates, ELC/SAC services with EWSS are estimated to have approximately 80% of payroll costs covered. This equates to approximately 50% of the usual operating costs of these services.
|
Gross weekly pay |
Revised Rates |
|
Less than €151.50 |
Nil |
|
€151.50 – €202.99 |
€203 |
|
€203 - €299.99 |
€250 |
|
€300 - €399.99 |
€300 |
|
€400 - €1,462 |
€350 |
|
Over €1,462 |
Nil |
This estimated cost of EWSS for ELC/SAC, at standard and enhanced rates, was derived by my Department using data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile gathered by Pobal which includes data on gross weekly pay of individual staff working in the sector. This was used to infer the individual EWSS subsidy rates that would apply in respect of staff across the sector. These individual EWSS subsidy rates were summed to arrive at the total weekly cost of EWSS to the sector.
There are approximately 56 weeks between 1 September 2020 and 30 September 2021. Of these 56 weeks, the EWSS operated at standard rates for 7 weeks and will operate at enhanced rates for 49 weeks. Assuming an estimated weekly EWSS cost of €4.8m at standard rates and €7.4 million at enhanced rates, the total cost of the EWSS over this period may be estimated to be approximately €430m. This estimate assumes all ELC/SAC employers continue to avail of EWSS in July and August. However, ordinarily, just 40% of ELC/SAC providers operate during these months.
It is not possible to breakdown these estimates in the manner requested by the Deputy.
It is important to note that the estimates provided above relate to allocations for EWSS and not draw down. The actual spend on EWSS is a matter for Revenue.
Third Level Costs
Ceisteanna (349)
Brendan Griffin
Ceist:349. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if financial supports are available for third-level students whose families are marginally over the income threshold for a student grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33998/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The student grant scheme has gradations to the income thresholds to further extend the coverage of eligibility for different grant values at the rates of 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% of maintenance grant. The Student Grant Scheme also provides for different levels of income thresholds where families have (i) less than 4 dependent children (ii) between 4 and 7 dependent children and (iii) 8 or more dependent children. In recognition of the additional cost to families where more than one person is attending college, income thresholds may also be increased by up to €4,830 for each additional family member attending college at the same time. In this way, the Student Grant Scheme is responsive to the individual circumstances of particular families.
Before adjustments for the number of dependent children, additional persons in college and income disregards, which can bring the qualifying income threshold up, the highest standard income threshold for a fee only grant is €54,240.
The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme. It is anticipated that the SUSI review will be completed later this year and will inform policy priorities for the next Estimates process and future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy. In relation to other supports the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) provides financial support to full- and part-time students who are experiencing financial difficulties while attending higher education. Under the Fund, financial support can be provided to assist students who are unable to meet costs associated with day-to-day participation in higher education, including a number of categories such as books and other class material, rent, heating and lighting bills and other utility bills, essential travel, childcare costs etc. In response to the Covid19 pandemic, the SAF allocation for the 2020/21 academic year was doubled from €8.1 million to €16.2 million. Since 2017, an additional €1 million per year has been allocated to the SAF with HEIs asked to prioritise and ring-fence this element of funding for the support of part-time students who are lone parents or members of the other access target groups identified in the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education. An additional €1 million was added to the fund in 2018 for students attending Professional Masters of Education (PME) courses, who are experiencing financial difficulty. This additional funding was also made available for the 2019/20 year and again in 2020/21. In relation to other supports 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. Further information on this tax relief is available from the Revenue Commissioners at www.revenue.ie
Grant Payments
Ceisteanna (350)
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:350. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost to the Exchequer of increasing the SUSI income bracket no maintenance 50% tuition fees or 100% student contribution by 10, 20, 30 and 40 %, respectively; the number of additional recipients who would be brought within the bracket as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34023/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Deputy will be aware that there are various income thresholds used depending on the type of grant, family size etc. While SUSI has statistics on those students who have applied for grant support and can estimate with some degree of certainty, what impact changes to the thresholds might have for those students on lower income levels, the accuracy of its estimates become less reliable at the higher income levels. Prospective applicants on higher incomes may not have applied for support as their income was above the relevant threshold. As such, it is not possible to accurately cost the number of additional students who may qualify for support, if the thresholds are increased.
Allowing for the limitations regarding the accuracy of the costings, based on data from the 2019/20 academic year, the estimated cost to the Exchequer of increasing the SUSI income bracket no maintenance 50% tuition fees or 100% student contribution by 10% , would be in the region of €13m.
The number of additional eligible students would be circa 8,000.
The above figures do not include any changes to the income thresholds for the special rate of maintenance grants which are linked to long-term social welfare payments nor do they include any changes to the post-graduate income thresholds.
The Programme for Government contains commitments to, amongst other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. The review of the Student Grant Scheme is underway with over 250 submissions received via the public consultation process and over 9,000 survey responses were received through an online survey process. It is anticipated that the SUSI review will be completed later this year and will inform policy priorities for the next Estimates process and future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy. At this point I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review to indicate when any proposed changes will come into effect.
Grant Payments
Ceisteanna (351)
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:351. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost to the Exchequer of increasing the SUSI income bracket no maintenance, 50% student contribution by 10, 20, 30 and 40 %, respectively; the number of additional recipients who would be brought within the bracket as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34024/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Deputy will be aware that there are various income thresholds used depending on the type of grant, family size etc. While SUSI has statistics on those students who have applied for grant support and can estimate with some degree of certainty, what impact changes to the thresholds might have for those students on lower income levels, the accuracy of its estimates become less reliable at the higher income levels. Prospective applicants on higher incomes may not have applied for support as their income was above the relevant threshold. As such, it is not possible to accurately cost the number of additional students who may qualify for support, if the thresholds are increased.
Allowing for the limitations regarding the accuracy of the costings, the estimated cost of increasing the SUSI income bracket of no maintenance, 50% student contribution by 10% and the number of additional recipients would result in the following. (Please note data used is 2019-20 figures with applied requested changes.)
- Increase of 4000 to 5000 additional recipients based on SUSI applications received for the 2019/20 academic year.
- Increase in cost to the exchequer would be in the region of €6-€7 million.
The above figures do not include any changes to the income thresholds for the special rate of maintenance grants which are linked to long-term social welfare payments nor do they include any changes to the post-graduate income thresholds.
The Programme for Government contains commitments to, amongst other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. The review of the Student Grant Scheme is underway with over 250 submissions received via the public consultation process and over 9,000 survey responses were received through an online survey process. It is anticipated that the SUSI review will be completed later this year and will inform policy priorities for the next Estimates process and future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy. At this point I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review to indicate when any proposed changes will come into effect.
Grant Payments
Ceisteanna (352)
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:352. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost of increasing the SUSI income thresholds by 10%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34025/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Deputy will be aware that there are various income thresholds used depending on the type of grant, family size etc. While SUSI has statistics on those students who have applied for grant support and can estimate with some degree of certainty, what impact changes to the thresholds might have for those students on lower income levels, the accuracy of its estimates become less reliable at the higher income levels. Prospective applicants on higher incomes may not have applied for support as their income was above the relevant threshold. As such, it is not possible to accurately cost the number of additional students who may qualify for support, if the thresholds are increased.
Allowing for the limitations regarding the accuracy of the costings, it is estimated that a 10% increase would cost in the region of €30m .
The above figures do not include any changes to the income thresholds for the special rate of maintenance grants which are linked to long-term social welfare payments nor do they include any changes to the post-graduate income thresholds.
The Programme for Government contains commitments to, amongst other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. The review of the Student Grant Scheme is underway with over 250 submissions received via the public consultation process and over 9,000 survey responses were received through an online survey process. It is anticipated that the SUSI review will be completed later this year and will inform policy priorities for the next Estimates process and future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy. At this point I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review to indicate when any proposed changes will come into effect.
Grant Payments
Ceisteanna (353)
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:353. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost of increasing the maintenance grant by 10%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34026/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The estimated cost of increasing the maintenance grant by 10% is in the region of €16 Million.
The Programme for Government contains commitments to, amongst other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. The review of the Student Grant Scheme is underway with over 250 submissions received via the public consultation process and over 9,000 survey responses were received through an online survey process. It is anticipated that the SUSI review will be completed later this year and will inform policy priorities for the next Estimates process and future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy. At this point I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review to indicate when any proposed changes will come into effect.
Grant Payments
Ceisteanna (354)
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:354. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost to the Exchequer of extending SUSI to cover the full cost of fees for all students eligible for support based on current SUSI thresholds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34027/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Under my Department’s free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible full-time undergraduate students with students paying the student contribution fee. Combined maximum of €6,270. It is important to note in relation to this issue that under the Free Fees Schemes the Exchequer currently makes a very substantial contribution amounting to €340m to meeting the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate Higher Education students.
However, undergraduates in receipt of the SUSI grant have their student contribution paid on their behalf. For the 2020/21 academic year, 61,621 undergraduate students received 100% student contribution and a further 3,914 undergraduate students received 50% student contribution. Total cost to the Exchequer of €192.3m.
Most Irish and EU undergraduate students can expect to pay between €4,000 and €7,500 in student contribution and tuition fees. For the purposes of this calculation, if all undergraduate students in receipt of SUSI support were to pay maximum fees of €7,500. The total cost to the Exchequer would be in the region of €80.6m.
With regards to Post Graduates. EU and EEA Post Graduate students can expect the cost for a year of full time study to be between €4,000 and €9,000. There were 2,518 students in receipt of a SUSI grant for the academic year at a cost to the exchequer of €9.13m. For the purposes of this calculation, if all post graduates students were to pay maximum fees of €9,000 the additional cost to the exchequer would be in the region of €13.53m.
The Programme for Government contains commitments to, amongst other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. The review of the Student Grant Scheme is underway with over 250 submissions received via the public consultation process and over 9,000 survey responses were received through an online survey process. It is anticipated that the SUSI review will be completed later this year and will inform policy priorities for the next Estimates process and future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy. At this point I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review to indicate when any proposed changes will come into effect.