Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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437. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason persons in receipt of pensions after having worked in State bodies such as the Health Service Executive are excluded from receiving a special rates award under the student grant scheme administered by Student Universal Support Ireland despite some of these persons fulfilling all other criteria to be eligible to receive grants under the scheme, including having reckonable income below the required threshold, and despite grants also being available to persons in receipt of comparable pensions paid by the Department of Social Protection. [45113/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details in respect of the scenario referred to by the Deputy, it is not be possible for me to give a definitive response in this case.

By way of background, I wish to advise that the Report of the Action Group on Access to Third Level Education (2001) made detailed recommendations concerning the introduction of special rates of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students.

The target group of "those most in need" was defined in terms of the dependants of people receiving long-term welfare payments, where the necessary conditions are fulfilled.

To qualify for the special rate of maintenance grant for the 2014/15 academic year, an applicant must qualify for the standard rate of maintenance grant. In addition, total reckonable income must not exceed €22,703 in the 2013 tax year. Finally, as at 31st December, 2013, the reckonable income must include one of the eligible long-term social welfare payments prescribed in the Student Grant Scheme. It is important to note that the list of eligible payments for the special rate of grant includes the State Pensions, both the Contributory and Non-Contributory pensions.