Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and acknowledge his long-standing interest in this. The short answer is, yes, I will give consideration to this and work with the Deputy on it.

To be eligible for a student grant, an applicant has to fulfil all of the criteria of the student grant scheme, including the residency and nationality criteria. In terms of residency, a student must be ordinarily resident in Ireland, the EU, the EEA, Switzerland or the UK for at least three of the five years before embarking on an approved third level course. To qualify for a student grant, the candidate's nationality or immigration status in the State determines whether they meet the nationality requirements. The nationality requirements for the student grant scheme are set out in the Student Support Act 2011 and the student support regulations. They include a number of eligible permissions granted by the Minister for Justice; for example, refugees and dependent children of naturalised Irish citizens. When an applicant applies, the basis of their permission is examined to confirm whether it meets one of these approved permissions.

Under Article 32 of the student grant scheme, there is provision for a review of eligibility where a person’s circumstances change during the academic year. This includes a change in a student's nationality or immigration status. Where a student acquires Irish citizenship by naturalisation or is granted a category of permission to remain provided for in the legislation during the course of their studies, they may apply to SUSI to have their application reassessed, but they will only become eligible from the date of meeting the eligibility criteria.

The Deputy may be aware that my Department publishes an annual options paper on cost of education and changes to the student grant scheme. This paper sets out various costed options to stimulate debate and to inform priorities for the Estimates process. On foot of the Deputy's question, I have asked my officials to consider some options relating to immigration status and whether they could be identified and costed in the published options paper which I hope to be in a position to publish this summer. That will allow for consideration in advance of the Estimates process.

See this speech in context