Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Union of Students in Ireland on the presentations it is making today on the challenges facing students and their families. As we enter the time when students are finishing leaving certificate examinations, the pressure is growing on students and their families. The Union of Students in Ireland has prepared a submission with the title, The Crisis Never Ended. It indicates that there were 235,644 students in Ireland in 2017 and 2018 and that the number is growing all the time. Nevertheless, student grant recipient numbers have fallen by 4,022 because many families have become ineligible for student grants. This can be combined with the ever-increasing cost of accommodation and other expenses in education. We are making it extremely difficult for people, particularly those in marginalised communities or perhaps those in homes that are not conducive to students participating fully in education. We need to consider the barriers we are putting in place for all of these students. There are the parents now known as JAMs, "just about managing". A parent with a gross income of just over €39,000 and three children, one, two or three of whom are at college at the same time, will find it impossible to survive without getting further into debt. This is reflected in the number of students with mental health difficulties, the rate of which has increased by 127% since 2014. Families are under financial pressure because of the bureaucracy and intransigence in the student grant system and the low thresholds. We must examine it. Is a review being made of student grants? If so, what are the terms of reference for it? I know a parent who paid €5,000 for accommodation last year, but it is not allowed as expenditure when the application to SUSI is made in the following year. It is counted as earned income, but that is crazy because the money was not available in the household for spending. We must examine what expenditure is allowed. This is a really serious matter. I do not want to live in a state where people are excluded from education. It is not what we are about. We have always valued education and must ensure we continue to do so. Its value must be reflected in the budget decisions made this year on education and the review of the SUSI grants system.