Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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100. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 22 January 2014, the way a person under 23 years of age may prove their estrangement from their family in order to be assessed on their own means for Student Universal Support Ireland grant applications in cases where a social worker will not see them because they are over 18 years, a youth worker or family support worker will not see them as they have never been linked in to that worker before, and they are not in need of a Health Service Executive counselling service; and if he will list any other appropriate officers of the HSE who may be able to attest to a person being estranged from their family. [7208/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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101. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if provision of evidence from a GP will be accepted as evidence of estrangement for the purposes of persons under 23 years of age applying for Student Universal Support Ireland grants based on assessment of their own means. [7209/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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104. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason Student Universal Support Ireland will not accept the same standard of proof that a person under 23 years of age is not residing in the family home and is estranged from their family for the purposes of assessing them on their own means for grants that the Department of Social Protection accepts for assessing eligibility for social welfare payments. [7212/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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105. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 22 January 2014, the relevant legislative provision, circular or statutory instrument which stipulates that independent verification of estrangement for assessment of Student Universal Support Ireland applications may only be provided by the persons listed in this reply; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that SI 159 of 2013, section 21(3)(b), contains no such list of persons and states that a student may be assessed on their own means where it is established to the satisfaction of the relevant awarding authority that the student is irreconcilably estranged from their parents and that financial supports are not being provided to them; the reasons SUSI is not satisfied with evidence of proof of estrangement in the form of records of living outside the family home, letters from GPs, college counselling services or correspondence from other Departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7226/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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108. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that under the Mental Health Act, a general practitioner is considered an approved officer of the Health Service Executive to make a recommendation for a patient to be involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility in their capacity as that person's GP; and the reason a person's GP is not deemed sufficiently qualified by Student Universal Support Ireland to attest to the fact a person is estranged from their family for the purposes of assessing an application for a grant. [7265/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 100, 101, 104, 105 and 108 together.

As advised to the Deputy in previous Parliamentary Questions, for student grants purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. Where the applicant is a dependent student, the income of the applicant and his/her parents must be taken into account in calculating whether the means are within the limits to be eligible for a grant.

The Student Grant Scheme S.I. No 159 of 2013 makes provision in Article 21(3) which allows a dependent student to be exempted from having parents' income taken into account where it is established to the satisfaction of the relevant awarding authority that the dependent student is irreconcilably estranged from both of his or her parents and neither of his or her parents furnishes financial support to him or her. This provision allows the awarding authority to assess dependent students, in genuine estrangement cases, without reference to their parents/guardians income or address. Cases of genuine estrangement are relatively rare and each one has unique circumstances. The scheme does not stipulate precisely how an awarding authority satisfies itself. This is to allow the grant awarding authority sufficient flexibility to assess the evidence of irrevocable estrangement in each individual case.

The assessment of a case of estrangement however has to be carefully considered to ensure there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the exceptional circumstances pertaining in such cases genuinely exists. The type of evidence required is dependent on the applicant's individual circumstances. Compelling evidence of irreconcilable estrangement must be provided to allow a grant awarding authority to fully satisfy itself that the conditions for the application of exemption are met. An awarding authority in assessing the evidence presented will have regard to the particular circumstances in each case and the corroborative nature of the evidence available to support the claim of estrangement.

Different State support schemes have different objectives and in this case parents have a responsibility to support their children attending college. Where they fail to do so, the grant awarding authority must satisfy itself that genuine and irreconcilable estrangement exists. Confirmation that a student is living separately from his/her parents/guardians is not sufficient, as very significant numbers of third level students move out of the family home while at college and continue to be supported by their parents while in full-time education. The purpose of the student grant scheme is to provide an additional assistance where parental income is below a certain threshold and warrants additional assistance by way of a grant.

Evidence from services, including the Courts services and the Health Service Executive, working in a professional capacity with the family of the student, which demonstrates and confirms the genuine and irreconcilable nature of the estrangement would generally be necessary for an awarding authority to satisfy itself of the veracity of the case. The appropriate officer(s) depends the individual's particular circumstances. A letter from a GP would generally not be acceptable in isolation. However, where a GP could demonstrate referring the student to relevant professional support services, the GP report could be considered in conjunction with a report from the specific support service utilised.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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102. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason married persons under 23 years of age who reside with their spouse in a separate home from their parents are still assessed on their parents' means for the purposes of Student Universal Support Ireland grant applications. [7210/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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For student grants purposes, a student may be assessed as an independent student if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved post leaving certificate course or an approved higher education course, or of re-entry to an approved course following a break in studies of at least three years, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1 October. Otherwise he/she would continue to be assessed on the basis of his/her parents' income.

When assessing the means of students other than independent mature students, the scheme specifies that parental income must be taken into account.

I have no plans at present to change the current arrangements.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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103. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason persons aged over 23 years who have a gap of a number of years in their education are still assessed on their parents' income for the purposes of a Student Universal Support Ireland grant if they began their third level education when they were under 23 years. [7211/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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For student grants purposes, a student may be assessed as an independent student if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved post leaving certificate course or an approved higher education course or of re-entry to an approved course following a break in studies of at least three years, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1 October. Otherwise he/she would continue to be assessed on the basis of his/her parents' income.

If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to the appeals officer in SUSI.

Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board. The relevant appeal form is available to download from .

I have no plans at present to change the current arrangements.