Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 May 2022
508. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department will examine the case of a student (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25674/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFor student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent student (i.e. assessed without reference to parental income and address) if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1st October. Otherwise, he/she would be assessed as a dependent student, i.e. assessed with reference to parental income and address. The decision on eligibility for student grant applications is a matter for the centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland).
SUSI has advised my officials they received an application from the student in question on 27 April 2022. While the applicant may be living independently from his mother, SUSI found he does not meet the age criteria to be classed as an Independent Student he can only apply as a Dependent Student and as such must be assessed with reference to his own income and that of his mother. The student referred to by the Deputy has been awarded 50% Rate of Student Contribution by the awarding authority SUSI based on Dependent Status. If the student experiences a change of circumstances once his course commences, the student can then submit a request for an Internal Review under Change in Circumstances to SUSI. If you have further inquiries, they can be emailed direct to SUSI oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.
