Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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103. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will report on any meetings with student unions in relation to the cost-of-living crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51657/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Both I and my officials meet regularly with unions that represent students when I visit campuses across Ireland, through formal bilateral meetings and also as part of Departmental structures including the Funding the Future steering group.

At these meetings we discuss many issues including how the cost of living and the cost of education is impacting on students and their families.

These meetings were valuable in framing my approach to the significant package of supports for students which was introduced as part of Budget 2023.

Having listened to Students in Budget 2023, I gave priority to providing students and their families with financial support through a number of measures:

- All higher education students who are eligible for the fees initiative will benefit from a once off reduction in the Student Contribution rate of €1,000 for the 2022/2023 academic year.

- A once-off additional maintenance payment for SUSI maintenance recipients will be paid on the 16th December 2022.

- PhD students funded by the SFI and the IRC will benefit from a once off payment of €500 in the current academic year.

- Post Graduate Students who meet the eligibility criteria for a SUSI Postgraduate Fee Contribution Grant will benefit from a once off increase in their grant of €1,000 from €3,500 to €4,500.

- In addition, all maintenance grants are increasing effectivefrom January 2023. The special rate and Band 1 rate of maintenance will increase by 14% and all other maintenance grant rates will increase by 10%. Students in the current academic year will see their grant payments increase proportionately once this measure comes into effect from January 2023.

- I have also secured a further €8 million of funding for the Student Assistance Fund for the current academic year. This will mean that for the 2022/23 Academic Year, there will be €17.1m available through this fund.

My officials are also developing policy proposals to activate supply for student accommodation and it is my intention to bring these proposals to Government. In addition, I have established a dedicated Unit in the Department to lead on this work in consultation with the HEA and with the sector.

Other measures that will offer relief to students for the 2023/2024 academic year include:

- A reduction of €500 in the student contribution fee for eligible grant applicants earning between €62,000 and €100,000; This measure will benefit some 42,000 students.

- The threshold for the student contribution 50% grant has been increased from €55,240 to €62,000; This measure will benefit some 8,000 students.

- An increase in the Post Graduate fee Contribution Grant by €500 from €3,500 to €4,000 from September 2023;

- A €500 increase to the stipend baseline in 2023 for PhD students who receive an IRC or SFI award.

- A change to the eligibility criteria for “second chance” mature students as defined in the Student Grant Scheme reducing the period for a full break in studies from 5 to 3 years;

- An increase in the deduction allowable for student earnings outside of term time from €4,500 to €6,552 for academic year 2023/2024.

- An exclusion of rental income declared to Revenue under the Government’s rent-a-room relief scheme up to €14,000 when calculating reckonable income under the Student Grant Scheme for the 2023/2024 academic year.

- €3 million in funding for mental health and wellbeing initiatives for the 2023/24 academic year.

These significant measures will see students have more money in their pockets to help them tackle the challenges posed by the cost-of-living crisis.