Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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888.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of increasing the student maintenance grant by €1,000 for full-time students at third level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24609/24]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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889.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of increasing the non-adjacent maintenance grant by €1,000 for full-time students at undergraduate and postgraduate level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24610/24]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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891.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of increasing the adjacent maintenance grant by €1,000 for full-time students at undergraduate and postgraduate level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24612/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 888, 889 and 891 together.

The Student Grant Scheme is a demand led scheme and as such the number of students who are eligible for grants varies from year to year. As of 4th June 2024, there are over 47,000 students in receipt of a maintenance grant at PLC, Postgraduate and Undergraduate level, if the same number of students were eligible for a grant in 2024/2025 an additional €1,000 would cost c€47m.

In advance of Budget 2025 this autumn, I will be publishing an options paper which will set out various possible measures to address the cost of education. I am doing this in order to facilitate public discussion on the choices available to improve student supports. I will have regard to these options, including any options on increasing maintenance grant payments, when making proposals in the context of budget discussions.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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890.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of extending a non-adjacent maintenance grant by €1,000 to part-time students at undergraduate and postgraduate level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24611/24]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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892.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of extending an adjacent maintenance grant by €1,000 to part-time students at undergraduate and postgraduate level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24613/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 890 and 892 together.

To avail of maintenance under the Full time Schemeyou must meet all eligibility criteria including a means test in respect of an applicant’s reckonable income (gross household income). Schedule 1, Table B of the Student Grant Scheme 2024 outlines the income limits for Maintenance Grants from September 2024. It is important to note that there are also a number of income disregards (income that is not counted when calculating an applicant’s reckonable income) as set out in Article 22 (4) of the scheme and a holiday earnings income disregard of €7925 from September 2024. The Student Grant Scheme 2024 is published on the current pdf version is at the following link:-

The rates of maintenance depend on the level of an applicant’s reckonable income and their proximity to their institution (Those with a principal residence 30km or more from their institution receive a higher non adjacent grant)

A new part-time fee scheme for specified undergraduate courses is currently under development and is expected to be in effect from September 2024. Details of this scheme will issue in due course.

The Student Support Act 2011 is the primary legislation which underpins the current Student Grant Scheme for full-time students and will also underpin this Department’s proposed new Part-Time Fees Scheme for specified undergraduate courses.

Article 8 (3) of the Act provides for the provision of grants in respect of part-time undergraduate courses. An extension to postgraduate courses is not permitted under the current legislation.

As such it is not possible to cost with accuracy the impact of extending maintenance to undergraduates or postgraduates who are attending part-time courses as the income levels and adjacency criteria of this cohort of student are not available to us.