Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Married couples in my constituency on decent but modest incomes are contacting my offices in frustration following confirmation from SUSI that their children are either not eligible for grants or fees or, if they are, are just entitled to the bare minimum. I am dealing with one case where one parent is a council employee and the other a civil servant. They have always instilled a profound work ethic in their children, they have always paid their taxes and they have never asked the State for anything in terms of welfare. They now find their eldest child is only entitled to a SUSI grant of just €500 because of the Government pay rise paid to all civil servants. While that is a very modest pay increase, and a welcome one, it has pushed their son over the income threshold. This is an unfair situation and has led to financial strain on this couple. I am asking the Minister to commit to extending the SUSI income thresholds further for families like the one in the case I mentioned. These families are looking around and they see with frustration there are other categories of students, such as students who arrived here post the invasion of Ukraine, who are accessing free fees. The situation is terribly unfair and there are many civil servants around the country whose families are affected in the same way due to that modest pay increase.

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