Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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1084. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the manner in which academic scholarships for undergraduate or masters level impact on invalidity, pension and secondary supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20910/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Invalidity pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and for no other reason who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.  

Receipt of an academic scholarship would not impact on the IP payment.  People in receipt of Invalidity Pension can participate in courses of education.  If there is no work placement involved in the course, they notify the Invalidity Pension section of the course.  If there is a work placement element to the course, they may need to apply to transfer to the Back to Education Allowance which provides access to courses up to and including level 8 for the duration of the course.  Or they may consider accessing Partial Capacity Benefit which would enable them to participate in employment whilst retaining access to a payment.  In either case, they will revert back to Invalidity Pension upon completion of the course of study.  There will be no loss of secondary payments for the duration of the course of education undertaken.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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1085. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way that income from compulsory work as part of a PhD such as grading papers, teaching support and so on will affect disability support payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20911/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The system of social assistance supports provide payments based on an income need.  The means test plays a critical role in determining whether an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency – such as disability, unemployment or caring.  This ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted to those who need them most.

By its nature, the means test takes account of the income a person has in terms of cash, property - other than the family home - and capital.

The means assessment can vary from scheme to scheme depending on the nature and purpose of the scheme.  Sometimes a certain amount of income, or income from particular sources, is not taken into account for a particular scheme and these are usually referred to as income disregards.

Last year, I introduced a new disregard to allow Disability Allowance claimants to receive PhD scholarship awards from Irish universities, without impacting their Disability Allowance payment.  It is subject to an annual limit of €20,000 per annum (i.e. if a recipient gets more than one bursary, the combination cannot exceed €20,000) and is available for a maximum of four years.

This was introduced in recognition of the additional costs and barriers faced by people with disabilities in accessing further education.

Where a PhD student who is in receipt of Disability Allowance receives income from compulsory work as part of their course of study, or from any other employment, they can avail of a separate disregard which is designed to ensure that people with disabilities can participate in work while retaining a proportion of their social welfare payment.

This disregard allows claimants to earn up to €140 per week from employment or self-employment without their payment being affected, while half of weekly earnings between €140 and €350 are assessed (in June, the upper earnings limit will be increased to €375 per week).  This income disregard aims to ensure that people with disabilities can participate in work while retaining a proportion of their social welfare payment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.