Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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1731. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the guidelines for SUSI grants in order that all mature students are treated as independent, even if they live with a parent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1945/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the objective of the statutory based student grant scheme is to provide additional assistance where parental income is below a certain threshold or, in the case of independent mature students, where the level of income of the student and his or her spouse warrants additional assistance by way of a grant.

For student grants 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’s status for grant purposes is defined at their first point of entry to an approved further or higher education course or at their point of re-entry to an approved course following a break in studies of at least three years and continues to apply for the duration of their studies.

A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if they have reached the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course and are not ordinarily resident with their parent(s) or legal guardian(s) from the previous 1st October. The documentation required can be found here: .

The Deputy will appreciate that the funding allocation for the Student Grant Scheme is determined in the context of the overall estimates and budgetary process undertaken by all Government Departments. All proposals made in relation to SUSI grant expenditure can only be considered in the context of the budgetary allocation, having regard to overall resource constraints and other competing demands in the further and higher education sector.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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1732. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timescale for the introduction for the €25,000 stipend for SFI and IRC-funded PhD students; which PhD students qualify for the €25,000 stipend; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1981/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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In October 2022, an independent and comprehensive National Review of State Supports for PhD Researchers was announced; the first time that this issue has been considered holistically in this manner. The first report of the Co-Chairs, Dr Andrea Johnson and Mr David Cagney, was published in summer 2023. In it they recommended an increase towards an optimum PhD stipend level of €25,000, subject to funding availability.

In Budget 2024, funding was secured to increase the PhD stipend offered by this Department's competitive research funding agency (formerly Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council: now Research Ireland), from €19,000 to €22,000 annually. Furthermore, as part of Budget 2025, I announced an additional €9 million package to raise Research Ireland's PhD stipends from €22,000 to €25,000 per annum.? This was part of a major capital and funding package for tertiary education to reduce the cost of education and tackle cost-of-living pressures.? This builds on the previous increases, demonstrating my Department's clear and consistent commitment to this issue.

Regarding the timeline for this increase, Research Ireland has confirmed to all higher education institutions that funds are available to uplift students to €25,000 per annum. Research Ireland has directly engaged with the finance offices in the institutions, who will be commencing payment to PhD students at the €25,000 level from January this year.