Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

571. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of the total full-time undergraduate student body in receipt of SUSI support since 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24423/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Student Grant Scheme is the principal support for students in financial terms by my Department. It provides grant assistance to eligible students attending approved full-time courses in approved further or higher educational institutions who meet the prescribed eligibility criteria of the relevant scheme. It is a demand led scheme, with issues such as demographics playing a role in the amount of grantees in any one year.

The Scheme is administered since 2012 on behalf of the Department by the national student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), a business unit of CDETB.

The following link gives the percentage of the total full-time undergraduate student’s body in receipt of grant support since the academic year 2011/12 - 2020/21. Please note that as SUSI was established in 2012/13, there was an initial period where both SUSI and local authorities were processing grants.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

572. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost to the Exchequer of increasing all SUSI maintenance grants by 25% above 2020-2021 levels; the euro increase to each income threshold level of maintenance grant needed over and above the €200 allocated for the upcoming academic year in order to reach the 25% increase on 2020/2021 levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24424/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The estimated cost to the Exchequer of increasing all SUSI maintenance grants by 25% above 2020-2021 levels would be € 41,150,164.

The total increase to each maintenance grant needed over and above the €200 allocated for the upcoming academic year ( based on 2020/21 paid maintenance) in order to reach the 25% increase on 2020/2021 levels is €28.88M.

The following link sets out the euro increase per maintenance category for 2020/21 needed to increase all rates by 25%.

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

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. Improvements to the student grant scheme have been a priority for me since taking up my Ministerial appointment.