Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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1143. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are grants available to students who wish to pursue postgraduate opportunities but have already availed of the SUSI grant for an undergraduate degree; the funding available to a person in this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63117/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The main support available to students is the statutory based Student Grant Scheme where students are studying for the first time or are progressing to study at a higher level e.g. progressing to postgraduate study. To qualify for grant support, a student has to meet various criteria such as means, residency, nationality and progression. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for the relevant grant awarding authority.

One of the criteria in the student grant scheme relates to 'progression'. This means that a student must be moving from year to year within a course, having successfully completed the previous year or be transferring from one course to another, where the award for the subsequent course is of a higher level than the previous course. The objective of this policy is to help as many students as possible to obtain one qualification at each level of study. If an individual already holds a qualification, s/he is not eligible for funding at the same level again.

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).  

In terms of supports and in line with the Programme for Government commitment to address the gap in postgraduate grants, from September 2021 the postgraduate fee grant increased 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 increased from €31,500 to €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 2021/22 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.

As part of Budget 2022, I have secured an additional €15m to enhance the existing financial supports under the Student Grant Scheme.

For the academic year 2022/23 this will mean:

- An increase to all student grant maintenance payments, including the special rate of grant, of €200 per year which will benefit all students entitled to receive a maintenance Grant. There are currently circa 62,000 SUSI grant recipients receiving maintenance support. 

- The income threshold to qualify for the standard rate of student grant has been increased by €1,000.

- The qualifying distance criterion for students to qualify for the non-adjacent rate of grant has been reduced from 45km to 30km, effective from the start of the 2022/23 academic year.

I have prioritised these changes for the 2022/23 academic year and they will benefit thousands of students building on the improvements that have already been made for postgraduate students through this year’s student grant scheme. These improvements to the student grant scheme have been a priority for me since taking up my Ministerial appointment.

Apart from the Student Grant Scheme, students in higher education 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. 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. 

In addition, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may also be available in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education. Further information on this tax relief is available from a student's local Tax Office or from the Revenue Commissioners website.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1144. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost to extend the SUSI grant to part-time college courses. [63170/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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During the 2020/2021 academic year, statistics from the Higher Education Authority show that there were 49,658 students studying at all levels in our publicly funded institutions on a part time basis.

The costs of extending the SUSI grant scheme to these part time students would depend on an assessment to see if they meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those which relate to course mode, nationality, residency, previous academic attainment (progression) and means. As they have not been assessed under the SUSI scheme, we do not know how many of these students would be eligible to receive SUSI grant funding if they were eligible to apply.  

However the following will give you an indication of estimated costs of extending the SUSI scheme to these part time students:

- If 10,000 of these students were deemed eligible, we would estimate a cost of €46m

- If 20,000 of these students were deemed eligible, we would estimate a cost of €92m

- If 30,000 of these students were deemed eligible, we would estimate a cost of €138m

- If all 49,658 of these students were deemed eligible for funding, we would estimate the cost to be €228m

These estimates are based on the average fee and maintenance grant received by eligible full time students under the SUSI grant scheme and do not include an estimation of extending funding to part time students under the free fees initiative which would be an additional cost to the exchequer.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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1145. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the SUSI review will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63195/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to give an update on the review of the Student Grant Scheme.  This was a  very important commitment in the Programme for Government, which will help shape decision-making on how we support students over the years to come. 

Following a procurement process, the review has been undertaken by Indecon Economic Consultants, under the guidance of a steering group which has included student and sectoral representatives. 

There was significant public interest in the Review, with around 280 submissions.  A very welcome feature of the process was engagement with students, and I understand that over 9,000 survey responses were received from students across the country.

This strong element of public engagement, in addition to the economic work undertaken by the consultants, should provide a solid evidence basis for the recommendations of the review.

The draft report was submitted to me in late December 2021.  Given the inter-connectivity between strategic student support issues and other reform priorities (e.g. the expansion of supports to part-time and blended learners as an enabler of lifelong learning or enhanced postgraduate supports as an enabler to equality, diversity and inclusion in the R&I system) it is now my intention to bring the report to Cabinet shortly alongside the Future Funding Model report.