Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

637. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who sought the SUSI grant on the grounds of estrangement from parents in each of the past ten years and to date in 2023. [45275/23]

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

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.

For student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent student (i.e. assessed without reference to parental income and address) if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1st October. Otherwise, he/she would be assessed as a dependent student, i.e., assessed with reference to parental income and address.

Only in exceptional cases, where compelling evidence of irreconcilable estrangement from parents/guardians is provided, can candidates who are under 23 be assessed without reference to their parents/guardians income or address, Article 21(3) (b) of the Scheme refers.

The assessment of a case of estrangement is carefully considered to ensure there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the exceptional circumstances pertaining in such cases genuinely exists. The scheme does not stipulate precisely how an awarding authority satisfies itself that such circumstances prevail. This is to allow the awarding authority sufficient flexibility to assess the evidence of irrevocable estrangement in each individual case. The type of documentary evidence required is dependent on the applicant's individual circumstances.

The number of applicants who applied for a SUSI grant stating estrangement from 2016/17 to 2023/24. are set out below.

Please note that data from academic years prior to 2016/17 is not available and current year’s figures (2023/24) may change as processing is ongoing.