Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.

The awarding authority has advised my Department that the students in question did not meet the nationality criteria of the scheme. While both students appealed the decision of the awarding authority to the SUSI Appeals Officer, the Appeals Officer refused the appeals and upheld the original decisions of the awarding authority.

The applicants had 30 days from the date of the appeal refusal letters (28 November 2019) to appeal this decision to the Student Grants Appeal Board. The students did not submit an appeal to the independent Student Grant Appeals Board within the statutory timeline and there is no discretion to accept a late appeal.

However, if the nationality status of either student changes during the academic year, they can submit a request for a review of their applications by email to support@susi.ie