Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Minister that finding commonality across the Chamber would never be an issue to be uncomfortable with. I wanted to raise this matter in general but also specifically relating to Irish citizens who are not currently eligible for the SUSI grant. This issue was brought to my attention by Kuxi Ghai, an incredible law student in Kings Inns and also an incredible advocate for the SPARK one-parent family group. I thank Ms Ghai for her tireless campaign. The Minister mentioned the principles of equity.

Currently, grants are given to those with permission to remain in the State with stamp 4 visas if they are the spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen or a dependent child of a naturalised Irish citizen. Not included in the eligibility are those who have permission to remain in the State with stamp 4 visas who are parents of Irish citizens. Excluding parents of Irish citizens is inconsistent with any principle of equity. It flies in the face of the purpose and intent of the stamp 4 permissions for parents of dependent Irish citizens. In his response the Minister suggested that he would undertake a review and make a change. I hope we can do that very quickly. In my next contribution I will make suggestions for an amendment that could be made as suggested by Kuxi Ghai.

See this speech in context