Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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193. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if the necessary steps were taken to ensure that there has been no negative impact on lone parents who were affected by the change in their status on 2 July 2015 and their ability or entitlement to access the special maintenance grant from the Student Universal Support Ireland this year and in the coming years. [31093/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Recipients of the one-parent family payment (OFP) who were due to transition from that scheme on 2 July 2015 and who were participating in full time education were allowed to retain their OFP payment. If applicable, these individuals were able to retain their Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) grant, subject to the normal conditions for the grant. The maintenance portion of the grant will continue to be disregarded for means on the OFP payment.

The majority of customers who have transitioned out of the OFP payment since the final phase of the OFP scheme reforms were implemented on 2 July, 2015, have a youngest child aged 7 years and, as such, have moved to the jobseeker’s transitional payment. As these customers can claim this payment until their youngest child turns 14 years of age, this effectively allows them up to seven years to complete their course of education. The jobseeker’s transitional payment allows customers to study full-time and to simultaneously receive the SUSI grant. The maintenance portion of the grant is disregarded when calculating the means for these customers, which is the same arrangement which apply to individuals in receipt of the OFP scheme.