John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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355. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of successful SUSI applicants in each of the 32 counties in the 2024-2025 academic year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35118/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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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.

The Student Grant Scheme, administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), provides grant assistance to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.

A Part-Time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses which commenced in September 2024 provides fee support to eligible part-time students attending specified publicly funded undergraduate courses leading to a major award. This includes specified in person and blended/hybrid courses and its aim is to provide additional flexibility in respect of course provision to students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Please note that SUSI are unable to provide a total number of successful applicants broken down by county in Northern Ireland due to incomplete address details for the County section as provided by the applicant on the grant application form. However, I can confirm that 84 applicants who were awarded a grant in the academic year 2024/25 indicated a home address as Northern Ireland.

The attached table outlines the total number of successful applications awarded by the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland for the academic year 2024/25 for both full and part time applications.

These figures are likely to change as SUSI continues to process applications for academic year 2024/25.

Number of successful SUSI applications awarded by 26 counties in Republic of Ireland in academic year 2024/25