Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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667. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a person (details supplied) is entitled to the SUSI special grant rate as they have been previously; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38340/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage the assistance of their public representatives in making enquiries about their grant applications.

This service, which was set up at the behest of Oireachtas members, complements the established channels provided by SUSI which include online application tracking, a dedicated website, a telephone helpdesk, email and social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Enquiries may be emailed direct to SUSI at oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.

Under the terms of the student grant scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students on full-time courses who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those which relate to nationality, residency, approved course, previous academic attainment and means.

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

To be eligible for the Special Rate of grant, an applicant's total reckonable income must not exceed €24,500 and must include on the 31^stDecember of the year prior to their application, one of the eligible payments as provided for in Schedule 2 of the Student Grant Scheme 2020. A party to the appeal must hold combined periods of Jobseeker's Allowance and Jobseeker's Benefit and other eligible payments for purposes of meeting the prescribed period of 391 days as determined by the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection.

As part of SUSI’s internal processes, Post Assessment Quality Reviews are carried out on applications both for the current academic year and all prior academic years. The application for the student in the details supplied was reassessed under one of these reviews for the 2020/21 academic year. When assessing an applicant’s eligibility for the Special Rate of grant it was determined that while there was an eligible payment (Jobseeker’s Allowance) on the 31^stDecember 2019, the duration of the payment did not meet the prescribed period of 391 days as determined by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

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.

Apart from the Student Grant Scheme, students in third-level institutions experiencing exceptional financial need can apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund. This Fund assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Information on the fund is available through the Access Office in the third level institution attended.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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668. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to a problem that has arisen for veterinary students studying in Poland trying to access SUSI grants for the final one and a half years of their degree course; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that the five and a half year course is a degree programme comprised of 330 ECTS and is being treated as if it was an integrated masters course by SUSI; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact is that the current interpretation by SUSI, which deems the first four years of the course as undergraduate and the final one and a half years as masters is placing Irish students studying in Poland at a disadvantage compared to those studying for a veterinary degree in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38348/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) is the state agency with statutory responsibility for the quality assurance of further and higher education and training in Ireland. QQI is responsible for maintaining the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The NFQ is a system of ten levels which aims to make the qualifications system in Ireland easier to understand, thus facilitating the recognition of Irish qualifications both at home and abroad.

QQI also hosts the Irish centre of the European Network of Information Centres / National Academic Recognition Information Centre (ENIC-NARIC). This service comprises a network of centres that facilitates the recognition of academic qualifications throughout Europe and further afield including Australia. Further details are available at: www.qualrec.ie

A course placed at Level 8 (or equivalent) on the NFQ is undergraduate level. A course placed at Level 9 (or equivalent) on the NFQ is postgraduate level.

SUSI grant funding is available for approved undergraduate courses in approved higher education institutions within the EU. No maintenance funding is available for postgraduate courses outside of Ireland.

Some high end courses abroad have an integrated undergraduate and postgraduate element. For these courses, SUSI may issue maintenance grants during the undergraduate element of the course but will not provide any support for the postgraduate element. Third level institutions are autonomous bodies and as such have responsibility for their own academic affairs, including issues relating to the composition and content of courses.

Further details of the funding available for integrated masters’ courses within the EU, is available on the SUSI website where students can determine their eligibility for grant support prior to attending a course:

In line with the Programme for Government, I am launching a Review of the SUSI scheme. This review will focus on:

- Assessing the impact of Covid on the SUSI scheme .

- Review of eligibility and adjacency rates.

- Examining the future role of SUSI in supporting different forms of provision in line with national priorities, including postgraduate studies and part-time provision.

It is intended that the Review will commence before the end of 2020, and will report in Summer 2021. Stakeholders will be consulted as part of the Review process, and it is intended that the future direction of the SUSI scheme will be guided by the outcome of the Review.