Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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54. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to review the administration of the SUSI grant system to ensure the criteria used in allocating grants is fit for purpose in ensuring vulnerable low income students can avail of proper supports, specifically the use of criteria around qualifying payments for the special rate grant and the interpretation of 391 days and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43217/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The student grant scheme opens the door for many people to access further and higher education who would not otherwise have been able to avail of these opportunities.

However, I have been very clear in my view that the scheme has remained static despite changes in Irish society in recent years.

The Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. The proposed scope of the SUSI review was the subject of a memorandum to Government last week. My Department will oversee the implementation of the review through a steering group with student representation as well as representation from SUSI.

It is intended that the review will commence early in the new year and will report to me 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.

Separately, my Department will be undertaking a short internal review on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the SUSI scheme, which will complement the wider review.

With respect to the specific questions asked by the Deputy, there are over 40 eligible long-term social welfare payments prescribed in the Student Grant Scheme. The 391 days is the time period as determined by the Department of Social Protection for a social welfare payment to be regarded as long term, and refers to social welfare days as opposed to calendar days.

The Student Grant Scheme makes provision for combining periods of Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit and other eligible payments for the purposes of meeting the 391 days eligibility requirement.