James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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294. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to examine a matter with a SUSI grant (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40846/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Assessment of means under the Student Grant Scheme 2023 is based on gross income from all sources, of the dependent applicant and his/her parents. No deduction is given for outgoings with the exception of pension contributions, legally enforceable maintenance payments and employment related expenses as approved by Revenue.

The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter in the first instance for the grant awarding authority, Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI).

For the 2023/24 academic year, student grant applications will be assessed based on gross income from all sources for the reference period 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022. Where the business year differs from the reference period, the income shown in the business accounts for a 12 month period which ends between 1^stJanuary and 31^stDecember 2022 will be considered.

With regard to the specific application, I have been advised by my officials that the student outlined by the Deputy submitted an application to SUSI on 23rd July 2023. SUSI requested a copy of the student’s Father’s Revenue Indicative Calculation (RIC) for 2022 by letter on 31^stJuly 2023 and, a copy of his RIC for 2021 was received on 25^thAugust 2023. A letter was also submitted from the applicant’s father stating that he will not be filing his tax returns for 2022 until October 2023 and will not receive the Revenue’s Indicative Calculation for 2022 until early 2024.

As SUSI assesses 2023/24 applications on income received in 2022, they were unable to finalise the application until the RIC for 2022 is received. An additional letter was sent to the applicant on 25th August 2023 re-requesting this document. SUSI is currently awaiting this document in order to assess 2022 income, therefore the application is ongoing.