Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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449. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the SUSI grant application of a person (details supplied) will be examined; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14333/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My officials contacted the awarding authority regarding the student grant assessment for the student in question.

The awarding authority has advised that the student in question submitted an application for a student grant on 29 April 2020.

It was advised within the application that the student's father had inherited a house in 2019 thus resulting in the student's application being refused due to the reckonable income being over the maximum threshold for the award of grant assistance.

The student appealed this decision to the SUSI Appeals Officer on 17 June 2020. This appeal was refused under Article 24 (6) of the Student Grant Scheme 2020 which confirms that the inheritance received by the applicant’s father in the reference period (2019) is reckonable in the assessment for student grant funding for the 2020/2021 academic year.

The student was also advised of her further right to appeal this decision to the Student Grants Appeals Board. To date, no appeal has been received for the Board.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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450. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will instruct SUSI to disregard an inheritance if it is the family home at the time of application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14334/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is available to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the terms and conditions of funding, including those relating to residency, means, nationality and previous academic attainment.

The decision on eligibility for student grant applications is a matter for the centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland).

All applications are assessed nationally with reference to the terms and conditions of the relevant student grant scheme. The terms and conditions of funding are applied impartially to all applicants.

In calculating reckonable income under the Student Grant Scheme, the awarding authority considers income from all sources earned inside and outside the State within a specified reference period, including income from gifts and inheritance.

Article 24(6) of the Student Grant Scheme 2020 provides that gifts or inheritances received in the reference period will be included as reckonable income. This will be taken into account for one year only. Grant assistance may not be awarded in any case where the reckonable income exceeds the prescribed income limits for the award of a grant.

If any of the persons whose income is under consideration received a gift or an inheritance in the reference period, these are included in reckonable income, unless in the case of an independent student, the gift or inheritance was between the applicant and his or her spouse, civil partner or cohabitant; or in the case of a dependent student, the gift or inheritance was between parents or to the applicant from his or her parent(s).

If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant, or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI.

Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by an appeals officer in SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal may be submitted to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board within the required timeframe (i.e. not later than 30 days after the notification of the determination of the appeals officer to the applicant). Such appeals can be made by the appellant on line via www.studentgrantappeals.ie.