Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
2046. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the reason the criteria for the special rate SUSI payment exclude families who are not receiving a long-term social welfare payment, even if their income is below the €25,000 threshold; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37640/23]
View answerThe Student Grant Scheme is targeted at those students who are most in need of financial assistance and the Special Rate of grant is a key tool in targeting student grant assistance at the cohort of students who are most in need.
The qualifying criteria for the special rate of maintenance grant in the 2023 Student Grant Scheme are as follows:
(i) The student must qualify for the standard rate of grant (i.e. the 100% grant);
(ii) Total reckonable income in the reference year, after income disregards and Child Dependant Increase(s) are excluded, must not exceed €25,000; and
(iii) As at 31st December 2022, the reckonable income must include one of the eligible long-term social welfare payments prescribed in the Student Grant Scheme.
The special rate of grant in the Student Grant Scheme has, as a matter of long-standing policy, been targeted at applicants who are the dependents of people receiving long-term welfare payments, where the relevant eligibility criteria are met.
The report of the Action Group on Access to Third Level Education made detailed recommendations concerning the introduction of special rates of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students. The rationale for the special rate is that it is targeted at those who are "most in need", which the report identified as child dependents of people receiving long-term social welfare payments, where other necessary conditions are fulfilled.
Accordingly, to effectively target this cohort, the income threshold for the special rate of grant is strategically aligned with the highest Department of Social Protection rate, which is the maximum point of the weekly State Contributory Pension plus the maximum Qualified Adult Allowance for a person over 66 years, in order to target students from households in receipt of long term social welfare assistance effectively. The income threshold for the special rate of grant is being increased from €24,500 to €25,000 for the 2023 Scheme to keep in line with increases in the old age pension.
I have recently made additional improvements to the special rate of grant. The special rate of grant payment itself was increased as part of Budget 2023, with the rate already changing in the 2022/23 academic year. In January 2022, the special rate of grant increased to a non-adjacent rate of €6,971 (up from €6,115) or the adjacent rate of €2,936 (up from €2,575).
Additionally, increments for the number of dependent children in the family and the number of additional persons in the household in further or higher education are also being extended in the 2023 Scheme so that they now also apply to the special rate, bringing it in line with all other rates. This change will create consistency across the Scheme and will give a greater level of flexibility where a student may be working and the family income is just over the threshold or where a household is just over the limit but may have 2 children or more in college.
The eligibility criteria for student grants are reviewed annually by the Department and approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. All proposals made in relation to education expenditure, including student grants, are considered in the context of the annual Budget.
