Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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524. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 68 of 8 March 2022, the number of students enrolled in higher education institutions who would be eligible to apply to the student hardship grant; the amount expended in total by each such institution; the number of students who availed of such support; the average amount received by each student by institutions and by year for the years 2016 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16173/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Student Assistance Fund (SAF) is allocated to Higher Education Institutions to assist participating students in both temporary and ongoing financial need.

This fund is managed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS). These funds are allocated to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on academic year basis.

Eligibility Criteria:

The HEA does not have information on the number of students who would be eligible to apply. However, eligibility criteria are published and issued to HEIs on an annual basis and the 2021/22 guidelines contain the following:

Student eligibility:

Applications for the SAF can be made by students registered on higher education courses of not less than one year in duration.

Students on courses that lead to a higher education award from level 6-10 of the National Framework of Qualifications are eligible to apply for the SAF. PhD students are eligible to apply for the SAF during the first four years of their studies. PhD students who have completed four years of their studies may also be considered eligible for support on a case-by-case basis.

Students on courses that do not lead to a higher education award are not eligible to apply for the SAF.

Students with a previous higher education qualification at the same NFQ level, or who, in the past, attended higher education without ultimately obtaining a qualification, may be considered for support on a case-by-case basis and subject to available funding.

Students on Springboard+/Human Capital Initiative courses, or who are on blended/distance learning courses, are eligible to apply for support through the SAF subject to meeting the criteria outlined above.

International/non-EU fee paying students are not eligible for funding. HEIs are advised to ring-fence a small fund from non-EU fee income to provide for any emergency financial requirements arising for these students.

Students who are non-EU, including UK nationals, but who are eligible for free or reduced fees in line with the criteria for the Free Fees Initiative, may be considered for the SAF subject to meeting other relevant criteria.

Any student can receive funding from the SAF if their application is successful and they meet the relevant eligibility criteria i.e., a student does not have to be in receipt of a SUSI grant to be eligible to receive funding from SAF

Eligible Costs:

This fund is available to assist students who are unable to meet costs associated with day-to-day participation in higher education, including:

- Books and other class material that are required to enable students to continue and participate in teaching and learning and/or complete examinations

- Rent, heating and lighting bills and other utility bills e.g., mobile phone data plans, that are required to enable students to continue and participate in teaching and learning and/or complete examinations

- Food

- Essential travel

- Childcare costs

- Medical costs

- Family difficulties e.g., bereavement

The above list is not exhaustive. However, it is important that the nature of the expenditure for which assistance is being provided is clearly identified.

The Guidelines for the Student Assistance Fund are available here hea.ie/funding-governance-performance/funding/student-finance/student-assistance-fund/

Allocations and Beneficiaries:

Please find attached details of allocations to HEIs and beneficiaries by Academic Year from 2016/2017 to 2021/2022.

The beneficiaries for 2021/22 academic year will not be available until October 2022 when the HEA receive the annual returns from HEIs.

The following should be noted on beneficiary numbers:

The HEA collect data on an annual basis from the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on the number of students in receipt of the Student Assistance Fund (SAF). From 2017/18 onwards, information is collected on the number of SAF beneficiaries. This followed a review in 2016/17, where it was found that some HEIs were counting the number of payments made to students rather than the number of students supported.

The following should be noted on allocations:

COVID 19– There was additional funding allocated to SAF for additional financial hardship faced by students resulting from COVID 19 in 2020/21 and 2021/22