Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2022
444. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of SUSI applications that were rejected on the basis that the pandemic unemployment payment brought their income over the threshold in each of the past 12 months. [60818/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe main support available to students is the statutory based Student Grant Scheme where students are studying for the first time or are progressing to study at a higher level. Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.
The Scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the national student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), a business unit of CDETB. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) to determine.
SUSI have confirmed that it is not possible to provide data as requested by the Deputy. When SUSI assesses an applicant’s reckonable income, the totality of the income is examined. If the total income is found to exceed the income thresholds outlined in the legislation, the applicant is deemed ineligible due to their total income exceeding the income thresholds. The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is only one component of an applicant’s total reckonable income, and it is not possible for SUSI to determine which component of the income results in the total income exceeding the threshold.
However, article 32 of the Student Grant Scheme 2021 provides for a review of eligibility for the award of a grant in the event of a change of circumstances in the academic year. Where a student experiences a change of circumstances during the course of their studies, he/she may apply to SUSI to have his/her application re-assessed at helpdesk@SUSI.ie quoting Internal Review in the Subject line.
As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage the assistance of their public representatives in making enquiries about their grant applications. Enquiries may be emailed direct to SUSI oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.
