Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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655. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address the anomaly by which lone parents in receipt of rent supplement and the one parent family payments and jobseeker's transition payment that want to take up education or training are not eligible for SUSI maintenance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29115/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In general terms, there is nothing preventing a lone parent who is in receipt of Rent Supplement, One Parent Family Payment and/or Jobseeker's Allowance Transition payment(s) from applying to SUSI for maintenance funding under the Student Grant Scheme.

Rent Supplement, One Parent Family Payments (where paid to the applicant) and Jobseeker's Allowance Transition (where paid to the applicant), are treated as income disregards for the purposes of the Student Grant Scheme and are not included in the calculation of reckonable income. 

Furthermore, the One Parent Family Payment and Jobseekers Allowance Transition payments are eligible payments for the special rate of maintenance grant.