Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1668. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason mental health is not considered under exceptional circumstances by the Student Grant Appeals Board where a student seeks a SUSI grant for a repeat year at third level; if there is an understanding that mental health is difficult to prove as regards medical evidence which makes it much more difficult for a student to prove; the proof required for this to be considered an exceptional circumstance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30665/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Mental health and wellbeing of our third-level students is an ongoing priority for this Government and my Department and I remain committed to enhancing mental health supports across the sector.

Generally speaking, a grant will not be paid to a student for a repeat period of study on the same course, or for a different course at the same level, irrespective of whether or not a grant was paid previously, as per Article 15 (6) and (7) of the Student Grant Scheme 2025. The objective of this policy is to help as many students as possible to obtain one qualification at each level of study.

Notwithstanding this, under Article 15(8) of the Student Grant Scheme 2024, the awarding authority SUSI has discretion to award a grant for a repeat period of study in exceptional circumstances, such as serious certified illness, which impacted on a student completing a particular period of study or undertaking exams in line with guidelines drawn up by the Minister. SUSI treats each application for repeat funding on a case-by-case basis and it is a matter for the individual student to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the awarding authority that there were exceptional circumstances. The Scheme does not specify what proof is required for exceptional circumstances. Documentation relating to the exceptional circumstances must be provided by the appellant.

Where a student considers they have been unjustly refused a student grant, they can appeal in the first instance to SUSI. If their appeal is turned down by SUSI they can further appeal to the independent Student Grant Appeals Board. The Board will use its discretion to determine whether the documentation provided is sufficient to support a repeat period due to exceptional circumstances under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme 2025.

My Department has allocated a total of nearly €32 million to support higher education institutions in meeting the mental health and wellbeing needs of students since 2020. This funding supports institutions in directly meeting the needs of students through counselling services as well as delivering the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework.

As autonomous institutions, the exact disbursement of the funding is a matter for each institution depending on their own prioritisation of needs. They have been advised to distribute it in support of specific student-facing areas, such as recruitment of additional Student Counsellors and assistant psychologists, head of service posts, training and awareness-raising.

The majority of new posts created through this funding have been counsellors, reflecting the capacity building phase of the implementation of the Framework.

Over the past number of years, this has been a mixture of core funding and once-off Covid support funding, but as of 2020 I am pleased to indicate that €5 million annually is being allocated on a recurrent, sustainable basis. As autonomous bodies, institutions can also allocate resources to this area from within their overall Exchequer and other funding sources.

The funding also supports a range of national and institutional projects. Examples include:

• The National Student Counselling Database Implementation Project which will facilitate the identification of trends in the mental health needs of students attending student counselling services and identify areas that need attention;
• TogetherAll – a 24/7 peer support platform;
• Support for the work of the Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education Ireland;
• Co-ordination of research on suicide and self-harm;
• Development of a screening tool for selecting the most appropriate person-centred intervention for students with mental health presentations, as well as tracking the wellbeing outcomes of the students who engage with their institution’s student support service;
• Development of a national health and wellbeing assessment tool to enable institutions to implement and progress the Healthy Campus Charter and Framework;
• An ongoing review of the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework has identified that there remains a need to develop an appropriate indicator to measure the ability of institutions to provide adequate levels of mental health supports to students.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1669. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) has been refused a SUSI grant where it is clearly shown that their repeat year was under exceptional circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30666/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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An official from my Department has advised that the student referred to by the Deputy applied to the awarding authority, SUSI for grant funding and was refused on the basis of a repeat period of study and the requirement to complete an equivalent period of study, before being eligible to be considered for grant funding.

SUSI received an appeal from the applicant in relation to the original decision and documentation of her exceptional circumstances, but this was deemed to be insufficient to support a repeat period under exceptional circumstances, and the appeal was refused.

An appeal under exceptional circumstances was submitted to the Student Grants Appeals Board and was heard by the Board on 3rd June 2025. Article 15 (8) of the Student Grant Scheme 2024 affords the Board the discretion to waive the provisions in Articles 15 (6) and (7) (in respect of a repeat period of study and the requirement to complete an equivalent period of study before being deemed eligible for grant funding), in exceptional circumstances, in line with guidelines drawn up by myself.

The Board reviewed the documentation provided and determined that it was not sufficient to support a repeat period due to exceptional circumstances under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme 2024. The Board upheld the decision of the Appeals Officer and the awarding authority and refused the appeal.

Mental health and wellbeing of our third-level students is an ongoing priority for this Government. My Department and I remain committed to enhancing mental health supports across the sector.

My Department has allocated a total of nearly €32 million to support higher education institutions in meeting the mental health and wellbeing needs of students since 2020. This funding supports institutions in directly meeting the needs of students through counselling services as well as delivering the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework.

As autonomous institutions, the exact disbursement of the funding is a matter for each institution depending on their own prioritisation of needs. They have been advised to distribute it in support of specific student-facing areas, such as recruitment of additional Student Counsellors and assistant psychologists, head of service posts, training and awareness-raising.

The majority of new posts created through this funding have been counsellors, reflecting the capacity building phase of the implementation of the Framework.

Over the past number of years, this has been a mixture of core funding and once-off Covid support funding, but as of 2020 I am pleased to indicate that €5 million annually is being allocated on a recurrent, sustainable basis. As autonomous bodies, institutions can also allocate resources to this area from within their overall Exchequer and other funding sources.

The funding also supports a range of national and institutional projects. Examples include:

• The National Student Counselling Database Implementation Project which will facilitate the identification of trends in the mental health needs of students attending student counselling services and identify areas that need attention;
• TogetherAll – a 24/7 peer support platform;
• Support for the work of the Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education Ireland;
• Co-ordination of research on suicide and self-harm;
• Development of a screening tool for selecting the most appropriate person-centred intervention for students with mental health presentations, as well as tracking the wellbeing outcomes of the students who engage with their institution’s student support service;
• Development of a national health and wellbeing assessment tool to enable institutions to implement and progress the Healthy Campus Charter and Framework.

Students experiencing exceptional financial need may be eligible to apply for supports under the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) which has been supplemented by a further €10m under the cost of education supports in Budget 2025. This Fund assists students in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Students in need of support should contact the Access Office in the higher education institution they attend to check what supports may be available.

In addition, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may be available in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education. More information on the tax credit and the tax treatment of students generally is available from the Revenue Commissioners on Students www.revenue.ie.