Written answers

Wednesday, 31 March 2021

Department of Education and Skills

Student Support Schemes

Photo of Steven MatthewsSteven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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758. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he will take to assist those on lower incomes in accessing level 9 college courses; if his attention has been drawn to the need to address existing barriers to this level of education which is the required minimum standard in some industries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17118/21]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The main support available to assist postgraduate students with the cost of attending higher education is the Student Grant Scheme. In line with the Programme for Government commitment to address the gap in postgraduate grants, from September 2021 the postgraduate fee grant will increase from €2,000 to €3,500. This increase will allay some of the costs for postgraduate study and will give greater certainty for students in terms of supports. In addition, the fee grant income threshold will increase from €31,500 to o €54,240 from September 2021.

Postgraduate students who meet all of the qualifying conditions for the special rate of grant under the Student Grant Scheme are eligible for a maintenance grant of up to €5,915; the income threshold for this grant for the 2020/21 academic year is €24,500. Qualifying postgraduate students may also be eligible to have their tuition fees paid up to a maximum fee limit of €6,270.

Under the Student Grant Scheme 2020, a student in receipt of a postgraduate research award where the stipend portion of the award does not exceed €16,000 may apply to the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) for financial assistance under the Student Grant Scheme 2020. The stipend portion to be disregarded will increase to €18,500 under the Student Grant Scheme 2021.

The Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. My Department will oversee the implementation of the review through a steering group with student representation as well as representation from SUSI. The review of the Student Grant Scheme has commenced and is due to report in Summer 2021. Stakeholders are being 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.

Apart from the Student Grant Scheme, the Deputy will be aware that in July I announced a funding package of €168m for the return to education. This package includes a €10m access support package for higher education students. I have approved the allocation of €8.1m of this funding to top up the Student Assistance Fund (SAF). The SAF assists students in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Institutions have the autonomy to maximise the flexibility in the Student Assistance Fund to enable HEIs to support students during the COVID-19 situation. Details of this fund are available from the Access Office in the third level institution attended. This fund is administered on a confidential, discretionary basis.

I recently announced enhanced funding of €3.2 million for the Irish Research Council to better support postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers in Ireland across all disciplines. This will directly benefit close to 1,300 early-career researchers across our higher education and research system. The additional investment will fulfill the long-standing priority attached by the Council to improving the support for its funded postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers at the earliest opportunity. The Irish Research Council’s postgraduate stipend will increase from €16,000 to €18,500 per annum and funding for its postdoctoral researchers is also increasing. The changes will benefit both existing and new Council awardees in 2021, effective from the beginning of January. Since my appointment, the funding gap for postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers between the research funding agencies under my Department has been an issue I wanted to address. I am pleased I have been able to address this as part of Budget 2021.

In addition, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may be claimed in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education including approved undergraduate and postgraduate courses in EU Member States and in non-EU countries. Further information on this tax relief is available from a student's local Tax office or from the Revenue Commissioners website www.revenue.ie

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