Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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844. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to clarify if an applicant’s income from part-time work can be disregarded as part of reckonable income assessed for SUSI grants. [42778/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware the decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the awarding authority, SUSI to determine.

Under the Student Grant Scheme for full-time courses, income from employment which represents holiday earnings outside of term time (Easter, summer and Christmas holidays) can be deducted when determining the reckonable income of an applicant. The maximum amount of this deduction in the 2024/2025 academic year is €7,925 and this can be deducted from both full-time and part-time employment income. The reason for the limit is to mitigate against students working so much during their tertiary education that it negatively impacts on their ability to fully participate in their course.

Where a student is pursuing an approved full-time course in the 2024/25 academic year and worked while they were in education in 2023, holiday earnings can be deducted from the total household reckonable income.

Under the recently launched Student Part-time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses, if an applicant is pursuing an approved part-time undergraduate course in the academic year 2024/25, a portion of their income up to the same maximum of €7,925 can be deducted from the total household reckonable income. This applies whether the applicant was in education or employment in 2023 and is not limited to holidays outside of term time. This is to allow for the fact that students studying part-time are likely to be in full time employment and to ensure that such students are able to participate in Higher Education.