Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

80. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has engaged with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Minister for Finance on extending the renters' tax rebate to students and parents as well as PhD researchers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51723/22]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Last Tuesday the Tánaiste said he hoped the Government could extend the renter's tax rebate to parents who help their children with rent while they are studying. He added the Minister for Finance was examining ways this could be done. I ask the Minister to provide us with an update on the Government's work on this area.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for the important and timely question. When the question was submitted and we were preparing our answer it was in advance of the Finance Bill being published. The Bill will be published later this week but the Minster for Finance has indicated today, as have I, that parents who pay rent for their children will now be covered by the rent relief. Let us look at the various scenarios in which students might be renting. A student might rent privately, register with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, and pay their rent. They are covered just as any renter in the general population would be. There are students who avail of the rent-a-room scheme and the Minister for Finance has been clear they are covered. Students who live in on-campus accommodation often have a licence agreement rather than a tenancy agreement. They will be covered. The final category is a student who is renting privately but whose parents are paying the rent. The Finance Bill will now ensure, quite rightly, that parent can avail of the rent relief. This is an area I think we agree on. It is right and proper that that is done and I very much welcome the work of my colleague the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on this.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome that move, which was absolutely necessary. We should never have put students in the situation of being excluded in the first place.

Will the Minister clarify the situation of PhD renters and whether they have been included? PhD students and researchers need action like everybody else. My follow-up question is whether there is any cohort of students paying out money for rent that will be excluded from this, or is everybody included?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I can only tell the Deputy those who are included because I am trying to think of various scenarios here. However, I am satisfied that the way the Finance Bill is now drafted will provide access to the rent relief tax credit for students in the four categories I outlined, namely, those living in on-campus accommodation, those renting themselves, those in the rent-a-room scheme and those renting where the tenancy is registered with the RTB but the students' parents are paying the rent for them, which I imagine is the scenario for may families across the country.

As for PhD students, I understand this issue relates to the fact the stipend is not taxed and this is a tax credit. Again, it is not possible for me on the floor of the Dáil to imagine all the various scenarios of individual PhD students. Some of them work and have an income that is taxable but it is a tax credit, administered by Revenue and linked to whether or not you are paying tax. I will come back in in a moment.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I ask that the Minister look at the situation of PhD researchers. He knows the inequity that is already built in by virtue of their not getting the stipend they should be getting or indeed not being treated as workers, which they should be. It highlights why they might be excluded in this situation. I hope a way will be found to include them. Of course, it is just €500 and in the context of rural-proofing our policies and students from rural areas having to find and pay for accommodation it is just a tiny bit of what we need to do.

I am sure through the other questions we have tonight we will tease out the whole area of student accommodation and what needs to be done to give certainty to students. I am concerned students are now thinking of dropping out because they have been couch-surfing and in accommodation that is not conducive to their participating fully in their studies and now their parents are trying to ensure they stay on at college.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of bits and, as the Deputy suggested, we will be able to come back to some of this in later questions. The first thing is we need to do a full, proper, external review of PhD supports. I expect to be in a position to announce the details of that this week. We need to look at it root and branch, at all the elements of support, at what other countries do, at what we do well and at what we must do better. We need to be aware of the inconsistencies that exist with different levels of stipends administered by different people. How does that work and how does that interact with our PhD students? I am happy to engage with the Deputy later in the week on that. We have a committee meeting tomorrow evening as well.

I will have more time when answering later questions to address the broader issue of student accommodation. There are two issues, which are affordability and supply. This question relates to affordability. We took a number of measures in the budget to reduce fees and improve grants, with a bonus student grant payment. We are talking about another measure which we are taking. I accept that the Deputy is welcoming it. It will provide access to the tax relief on rent for students and their parents. That also helps with affordability.