Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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52. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the income criteria for the SUSI grant with a view to removing the income of students who defer a year to work and save for college, work part-time or during their holiday periods and not consider this as reckonable income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49176/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for SUSI to determine. For the 2021/22 academic year, student grant applications will be assessed based on gross income from all sources for the period 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020.

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.

However, if a student or party to their application experiences a change in circumstances that is not a temporary change and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, such as a termination of employment, they can apply to have their application assessed under the change in circumstances provision of the relevant Student Grant Scheme. The income of all parties to the application will be assessed or reassessed on current income and applicants may also be asked to provide evidence of same.

Also under Article 22(5)(b) of the Student Grant Scheme 2021, income from an applicant’s employment which represents "holiday earnings" outside of term time but within the reference period, subject to a maximum of €4,500 can be deducted from the total reckonable income assessed. (This relates to the student's earnings from employment outside of term time i.e. the holiday periods of Christmas, Easter and the summer months).