Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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147. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way the distances for adjacent and non-adjacent third-level SUSI grants are set; his plans for a review of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26993/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Student Grant Scheme, administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), provides grant assistance to eligible students attending an approved course at an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.

Student maintenance grants are payable at either the adjacent or non-adjacent rate. The distance to be measured is the shortest non-tolled most direct route from the student’s residence to the institution attended. The adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable in the case of a student whose normal residence is 45km or less from the approved institution which he or she is attending. The non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable in all other cases.

The current qualifying distance threshold of more than 45km for the higher non-adjacent rate of student grant, takes into account a reasonable radius within which students may commute on a daily basis.

The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme. The review, which commenced earlier this year, will examine eligibility criteria such as: income thresholds; postgraduate supports; grant values and adjacency rates. It anticipated that the review will be completed later this year and will inform future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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148. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many potential students are blocked from accessing affordable third-level education due to their immigration status such as unaccompanied minors, children of immigrants working here and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26713/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The principal support provided by my Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme operated by SUSI. Under the 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 scheme is open to prospective students who are EU, EEA, Swiss or UK nationals, or who have refugee, subsidiary protection status or leave to remain status.

Persons in the protection process (asylum and subsidiary protection) or leave to remain process, are not eligible to access the statutory based SUSI grant scheme. However, the administratively based Student Support Scheme provides supports along similar lines to the SUSI grant scheme and is available to persons in the asylum, subsidiary protection or leave to remain process.

The criteria for the Student Grant Scheme have been relaxed in recent years. The requirement for prospective applications to have attended three academic years in the Irish school system and to have obtained the Leaving Certificate in the State, no longer applies. These positive changes have resulted in more students qualifying for support under the scheme.

Access to the majority of further education and training (FET) programmes is free of charge or heavily subsidised. International protection applicants who have been granted permission to work are eligible to access FET programmes on the same basis as Irish nationals.

While access for eligible international protection applicants to the majority of FET programmes is free of charge, international fees for Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) programmes of €3,600 have applied to international protection applicants with permission to work, except for those who are eligible for the Student Support Scheme. However, I recently announced that from the start of the next academic year (2021/22), international fees for PLC courses would no longer apply for international protection applicants with permission to work.