Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
361. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider ending the practice of means-testing PhD stipends for recipients of one-parent family and jobseeker's transitional payments by implementing the same disregard she granted recipients of disability allowance and their spouses/partners in 2021; the estimated cost of implementing such a disregard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19155/23]
View answerThe social protection system includes a variety of social assistance payments with different rules in relation to means testing, reflecting the different contingencies under which payments are made. The means assessment reflects the fact that there is an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of income or capital are in a position to use these resources to support themselves so that social welfare expenditure can be directed towards those who need it most.
My Department encourages social welfare recipients to avail of education and training. Income received from the SUSI grant is disregarded in the means test for most social welfare schemes. Additionally, any fees paid directly to the relevant educational establishment are not counted as means.
There are several scholarships, such as those awarded by certain charitable organisations, which are not assessed as part of the means test for social welfare payments. These include payments under the 1916 Bursary Fund and under Higher Educational Scholarships for Adult Learners from Uversity to a maximum of €7,000 per annum.
For disability allowance, the disregard includes any amount of a bursary, scholarship or stipend awarded for completion of Doctoral Degree studies at an approved institution up to a maximum of €20,000 per year.
Given the difficulty in estimating the future take-up of PhD stipends among customers of these schemes, it is not possible to provide an accurate costing. Disregards across all the Department's schemes are kept under constant review and any changes to the disregards for the One Parent Family Payment or the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment will need to be considered in the overall budgetary and policy context.
