Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 9, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:"9. The Student Support Act 2011 is amended, in section 16(3), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (d)--

"(d) whether he or she has been or is self-supporting having regard to information provided by bodies including but not limited to GPs, student support organisations, student unions, welfare officers, non-HSE employed social workers or non-HSE employed family support workers, LGBT advocacy workers, and youth advocacy workers, as well as information provided by other government departments and statutory bodies that demonstrates evidence of self-support, or affidavits provided by the student;".".

I will probably not withdraw this amendment because I feel strongly about the matter. It relates to the evidence of estrangement needed to access Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants. SUSI has done a great deal of work since its first year when it took over the processing of grants. To be honest, that was a disaster. Our committee discussed the Accenture report yesterday. Many improvements have been made, but estrangement is probably the most common issue in respect of which people visit our offices. It is difficult for students to prove that they are estranged from their parents. The level of documentation required by SUSI goes above and beyond what many students are able to provide adequately. We know of cases in which students who have proof from the Department of Social Protection that they are in receipt of payments at addresses that are not their parents' are still being asked for further information. It seems that there is only a limited number of documents that SUSI will accept. The amendment tries to expand the options available to students to prove that they are estranged by including information that is provided by advocacy workers, student unions, general practitioners and welfare officers.