Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Please take it from me that the exceptional circumstances are not working. People and families who were in the same financial position last year as they are this year are being excluded by SUSI, which is unacceptable. I understand in terms of social welfare, disregards, and uniformity across the board, but we are in a global pandemic. We have made all kinds of exceptions. We have put through emergency legislation and everything else. Why are students being singled out? The Minister is putting money in their pockets with one hand and taking out twice as much with the other. The same issue applies to medical cards. I spoke to a mother yesterday evening whose son had lost his medical card because of PUP. If students had known at the beginning that if they accepted PUP, many of them would be excluded from medical cards and SUSI, they would never have taken that payment. The payment is directly connected to employment.

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