Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

250. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if extra staff are being brought into the Student Universal Support Ireland offices in 2016 to deal with the application process; if he envisages a backlog; how long applicants will be waiting on applications to be processed; when it is likely grants will be paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20651/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Student Grant Scheme for 2016 opened on the 7th of April, more than two weeks earlier than last year. SUSI is expecting to receive more than 110,000 applications for the 2016/17 academic year. To date it has received 87,000 applications and provisionally awarded grants to 41,000 students. All applications received by SUSI by the priority closing date of Friday 8th July will be prioritised by the SUSI assessment teams.

The earlier opening date has led to earlier decisions for those students who have already submitted their applications to SUSI. Changes introduced last year now provide for the possibility for students to receive their first maintenance payment in September, provided that they submit their applications on time.

These changes have also ensured that students who apply to SUSI before the published priority application closing dates can receive decisions on their grant applications as early as possible before they go or return to college and, in an increasing number of cases this year, many students are receiving grant application decisions before they finalise their CAO choices or accept an offer of a college place.

It is not possible to specify the exact processing time for each application. Individual applications will be subject to different processing timeframes depending on their complexity and the time at which they are submitted by students relative to the published SUSI closing dates. It is important that all of the required documentary evidence must be submitted complete and on time to enable a final decision to be made on an application.

SUSI deploys a flexible staffing model and implements detailed workforce planning to meet the highly seasonal requirements of the annual grant application processing cycle.

While SUSI provides decisions on grant eligibility for students at the earliest possible time after an application is received, payment in respect of an awarded grant can only be made when a student has taken up their place in college, when their registration and attendance on their course has been confirmed to SUSI by the college and as soon as the student submits his/her bank details through the online SUSI account.

Students who have yet to submit their applications, should visit SUSI's website (www.susi.ie) where they can access information on the eligibility criteria for student grant funding.

For students who have already submitted their application, they can check the status of their application through the online tracker that is available on the SUSI website.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

251. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to increase or review the Student Universal Support Ireland Student grant due to spiralling rent prices in areas such as Dublin; the measures in place to deal with this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20655/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The eligibility criteria for student grants is reviewed annually in my Department and approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The statutory Student Grant Scheme and Student Support Regulations for the 2016/17 academic year were published by my Department on 7 April, 2016.

The Student Grant Scheme for 2016/17 contains a number of positive changes to the previous scheme. These include:

- an extension to the qualifying criteria for receiving the special rate of maintenance grant and the inclusion of a number of additional income disregards

- new benefits for 'second chance students' who return to education

- the first increase in 15 years in the amount of holiday earnings that students can exclude from their reckonable income for grant assessment purposes. This threshold has been increased from €3,809 to €4,500 for the 2016/17 student grant scheme.

The Student Grant Scheme for 2016/17 is expected to benefit more than 80,000 students at a cost of approximately €380m.

Any future changes to the level of student grant will have to be taken in the context of overall budgetary constraints. I have just published the report by the Expert Group, chaired by Peter Cassells, which examined funding arrangements for higher education and has presented options for developing a sustainable long term funding strategy for the sector. I am referring the report to the relevant cross-party Oireachtas Committee for comprehensive examination and discussion, in an effort to build a consensus on a plan for the future direction of the funding model for higher education in Ireland.