Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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184. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to reform the assessment criteria for Student Universal Support Ireland third level grants to reflect real family situations,for example, to include mortgage payments and other utility bills to reflect real outgoings; if he will allow additional documentation be used as proof of independent living, that is, that proof of lone parent payment be accepted as proof of independent living; and if the Department of Social Protection is satisfied that a person is living and claiming a payment at an address, if Student Universal Support Ireland should also accept same. [19248/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Student grant applications are means tested on gross income from all sources earned inside and outside the State within a specified reference period. The means test arrangements of the Student Grant Scheme are applied nationally. The assessment of income from the same starting point is deemed to be fair and reasonable because this approach eliminates any distortion which might arise from different spending decisions in different households.

The decision on eligibility for new student grant applications is a matter for the centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). When considering whether a student meets the conditions to be assessed independently of his or her parents, grant awarding authorities are obliged to satisfy themselves beyond doubt that an acceptable degree of proof of independent living in the relevant period has been submitted by the grant applicant.

I understand that SUSI accepts certain documentation from the Department of Social Protection in order to assist an applicant in proving that he/she is living independently at an address. The documentation must, however, directly relate to the applicant's residence at that address e.g. a letter from the Department of Social Protection confirming that the applicant is receiving rent allowance at that address. Other forms of correspondence from the Department of Social Protection that may be provided to SUSI by applicants as part of their student grant application do not necessarily require the same level of validation by the Department of Social Protection with regard to the person's residence at a particular address. However, all documentation received by SUSI as evidence of independent residence is reviewed and decisions are made on a case by case basis, having regard to the evidential value of the documentation submitted, other available evidence and the specific circumstances of each case.

If an individual applicant considers that he/she has been unjustly refused a student grant, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to 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, a further appeal can be made by the applicant to the statutory independent Student Grants Appeals Board.