Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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166. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated full-year cost of restoring the non-adjacent SUSI grant level from 24 km to 30 km, 35 km and 40 km, in tabular form. [38562/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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SUSI does not collate data in the format request by the Deputy. Therefore, it is not possible to cost the increase in the non-adjacent distance criterion from 24km to 30km, 35km and 40km.

However, the cost of reversing the change to the distance criteria from 24km to 45km for the student grant is estimated to be in the region of €26m.

The above costing assumes that a change to the distance criterion would result in a similar percentage of students qualifying for the higher non-adjacent grant support, as existed pre Budget 2011.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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167. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated full-year cost of restoring the SUSI grant scheme to pre-2011 levels. [38563/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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It is not possible to definitively estimate the full year cost of restoring the SUSI grant scheme to pre-2011 levels.

To put it in context, in 2010/11 there were 71,532 students who benefitted from grant support at a cost of €355m, whereas in 2018/19 there were 74,557 students in receipt of grant support at a cost of €363m.

In the intervening years we have centralised the student grant scheme (replacing four separate schemes and sixty six awarding authorities with one scheme administered by a centralised awarding authority), had a complete turnover of students, income levels have changed and numerous changes have been made to the annual schemes which affect eligibility criteria.

However, it is estimated that it would cost in the region of €100m to reverse all of the adjustments that have been made to the student grant scheme since 2011.