Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2708. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is aware of the case of a student (details supplied); if he will clarify the reason students are penalised for working modest hours during term-time, despite being allowed to earn up to €8,000 annually; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45289/25]

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 awarding authority, SUSI to determine.

Under the Student Grant Scheme for approved full-time courses, income of the applicant 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 2025/2026 academic year is €8,424 (an increase from €7,925 in the 2024/2025 academic year) 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.

An official in my Department has advised that the applicant was awarded the non-adjacent Band 3 maintenance rate of grant. The applicant submitted a 2024 Holiday Earnings Form completed by their employer on 1st of May 2025, and their application was reviewed by the awarding authority, SUSI. The form confirmed the amount they earned outside of term-time. As deducting this amount would not improve the rate of grant the applicant was eligible for, a letter was sent to them on 19 May 2025 advising that there had been no change to the original rate of grant awarded.