Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the budgeted cost of the increase in the income threshold for the 50% student contribution grant from €55,240 to €62,000 per year, which is scheduled to come into effect this autumn. [15517/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I recognise that third level education can be a significant cost for families and students.

In addition to once-off cost of living measures, over the course of the past three Budgets, I have delivered a range of enhancements to the Student Grant Scheme to put more money into the pockets of students and their families.

One of these measures was to increase the income threshold for the 50% student contribution grant from €55,240 to €62,000 per year which is scheduled to come into effect this autumn. This will mean the student contribution fee will be €1,500 for such students. The budgeted cost of this increase is estimated to be in the region of €12 million. This cost will be driven by how many people apply for the reduction.

As I did for the first time last year, it is my intention to publish a cost of education options paper which will set out options for further enhancement of student supports for consideration as part of the Budgetary process in the Autumn.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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151. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the budgeted cost of the €500 reduction in the student contribution charge for families earning between €62,000 and €100,000 per annum, and the estimated annual cost of doubling this reduction to €1,000. [15518/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I recognise that third level education can be a significant cost for families and students.

In addition to once-off cost of living measures, over the course of the past three Budgets, I have delivered a range of enhancements to the Student Grant Scheme to put more money into the pockets of students and their families. As part of Budget 2023, I created a new income threshold for student contribution grant support for families on qualifying incomes earning between €62,000 and €100,000. This will mean the student contribution fee will be reduced to €2,500 for this cohort.

The budgeted cost for this measure is expected to be in the region of €21 million. This cost will depend on how many people apply for the reduction. The estimated annual cost of doubling this reduction to €1,000 based on the current estimated cost would be an additional €21 million.

As I did for the first time last year, it is my intention to publish a cost of education options paper which will set out options for further enhancement of student supports for consideration as part of the Budgetary process in the Autumn.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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152. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of increasing the postgraduate SUSI fee grant by €1,000 to €5,000 based on the current enrolment numbers. [15519/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I recognise that third level education can be a significant cost for families and students.

In addition to once-off cost of living measures, over the course of the past three Budgets, I have delivered a range of enhancements to the Student Grant Scheme to put more money into the pockets of students and their families.

As part of Budget 2023, I have increased the postgraduate fee contribution payment by €500 on 2021 levels from €3,500 to €4,000 effective from September 2023. This was estimated to affect circa 2,400 students at a cost of €1.2m.

The current enrolment numbers are not readily available as SUSI are still processing applications for the 2022/23 academic year and reconciliation of fees for 2022/23 are still ongoing. I have therefore based the estimated cost of increasing the postgraduate fee contribution payment from €4,000 to €5,000 on the aforementioned estimated number of students to benefit from this measure, and estimate that the cost may be in the region of €2.4m.

As I did for the first time last year, it is my intention to publish a cost of education options paper which will set out options for further enhancement of student supports for consideration as part of the Budgetary process in the Autumn.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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153. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of increasing the lower income threshold for the full SUSI grant, which is currently €24,500, to €30,000, €40,000 and €45,000, respectively. [15520/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available. Colleagues in my Department are engaging with SUSI for a response. My Department will contact the Deputy directly when a response is available.