Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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444. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of SUSI applications that were rejected on the basis that the pandemic unemployment payment brought their income over the threshold in each of the past 12 months. [60818/22]

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. Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.

The Scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the national student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), a business unit of CDETB. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) to determine.

SUSI have confirmed that it is not possible to provide data as requested by the Deputy. When SUSI assesses an applicant’s reckonable income, the totality of the income is examined. If the total income is found to exceed the income thresholds outlined in the legislation, the applicant is deemed ineligible due to their total income exceeding the income thresholds. The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is only one component of an applicant’s total reckonable income, and it is not possible for SUSI to determine which component of the income results in the total income exceeding the threshold.

However, article 32 of the Student Grant Scheme 2021 provides for a review of eligibility for the award of a grant in the event of a change of circumstances in the academic year. Where a student experiences a change of circumstances during the course of their studies, he/she may apply to SUSI to have his/her application re-assessed at helpdesk@SUSI.ie quoting Internal Review in the Subject line.

As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage the assistance of their public representatives in making enquiries about their grant applications. Enquiries may be emailed direct to SUSI oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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445. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of SUSI applications that were rejected in each of the past five years and to date in 2022. [60819/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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. The Scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the national student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), a business unit of CDETB. Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.

Please see below table for number of persons who were refused a grant from 2017/18 to 2022/23, data as of 25 November 2022

If an individual applicant considers that he/she has been unjustly refused a student grant, he/she may appeal, in the first instance, to his/her awarding body. Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by the awarding authority and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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446. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who had their SUSI grant funding withdrawn from them mid-academic year in each of the past five years and to date in 2022. [60820/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The information sought by the Deputy is currently being compiled by SUSI, who are the awarding authority. I have arranged for officials from my Department to forward the information directly to the Deputy's office once it is received from SUSI.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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447. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who applied for SUSI grants by county in each of the past five years and to date in 2022. [60821/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The information sought by the Deputy is currently being compiled by SUSI, who are the awarding authority. I have arranged for officials from my Department to forward the information directly to the Deputy's office once it is received from SUSI.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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448. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who qualified for a SUSI grant by county in each of the past five years and to date in 2022. [60822/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The principal support provided by my Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.

The scheme is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics, employment rates etc. The number of students who qualified for a SUSI grant by county in each of the past five years and to date in 2022 is as follows

Breakdown by Home Address County:

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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449. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that in cases in which an applicant is assessed as a dependant applicant upon entry to the SUSI processing system, they are unable to be assessed correctly if their circumstances have changed and they can prove these changes (details supplied). [60835/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Under the terms of the student grant scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students on full-time courses who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those which relate to nationality, residency, approved course, previous academic attainment and means.

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).

To be eligible for the Special Rate of grant, an applicant's total reckonable income must not exceed €24,500 and must include on the 31st December of the year prior to their application, one of the eligible payments as provided for in Schedule 2 of the Student Grant Scheme 2022.

The position in this case is that the student listed one parent on his application and proved separation. Therefore, only the income of that parent is considered. No party to the application held an eligible payment as provided for in Schedule 2 of the student grant scheme 2022.

However, article 32 of the Student Grant Scheme 2021 provides for a review of eligibility for the award of a grant in the event of a change of circumstances in the academic year. Where a student experiences a change of circumstances during the course of their studies, he/she may apply to SUSI to have his/her application re-assessed at helpdesk@SUSI.ie quoting Internal Review in the Subject line.

Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by an appeals officer in SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal may be submitted to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board within the required timeframe (i.e. not later than 30 days after the notification of the determination of the appeals officer to the applicant). Such appeals can be made by the appellant on line via www.studentgrantappeals.ie.

Apart from the Student Grant Scheme, students in third-level 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. Information on the fund is available through the Access Office in the third level institution attended.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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450. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 801 of 8 November 2022, when funding will be phased in for graduate entry medicine and if a reduction of student contribution fees is expected by September 2023. [60930/22]

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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451. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 801 of 8 November 2022, if extra Government funding for universities, such as University College Dublin, will be ringfenced to ensure lower student contribution fees going forward. [60931/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 450 and 451 together.

The total level of fees charged to Graduate Entry Medicine students is a matter for the higher education institutions, consistent with the principle of their institutional autonomy.

However, as I outlined in my response to PQ No 801 of 8 November, the State does provide support to institutions for Graduate Entry Medicine programmes in order to widen access and assist the students pursuing these programmes. In this context, the fees of EU students enrolled in Graduate Entry Medicine are partly subsidised by the State via the Higher Education Authority. As of the 2021/2022 academic year, the State contribution towards Graduate Entry Medicine places was €11,950 per student per year. It has now been agreed that, for new places, the State contribution will increase to €14,500 per year while, for existing places, the level of State support will be increased to this level on a phased basis over a multi-year period. The balance of fees is payable by the student.

As the overall fee level for Graduate Entry Medicine is determined by the higher education institutions, the level of contribution by the student to the overall fee level is also a matter for the relevant institutions. It is not open to my Department to intervene in the tuition fee policy of the institutions.