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. If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant, or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI. Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal may be submitted to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board within the required timeframe. Such appeals can be made by the appellant online via www.studentgrantappeals.ie.
The Deputy will appreciate that the student grant appeals process has been established to investigate and address any issues concerning student grant applications. As there were no details provided for the student the Deputy refers to, I cannot comment on the application status of these students. If the Deputy has further enquiries relating to the specific application, they can be emailed direct to SUSI oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.
