Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 March 2025
35. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will review the amount a student can earn per week during term time and be exempt from the SUSI means testing (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13539/25]
View answerAs 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 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 up to a certain limit. 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. I have recently finalised the Student Grant Scheme for 2025/2026 and the deduction limit is increasing for the 2025/2026 academic year from €7,925 to €8,424. This increase is reflective of the increase in the national minimum wage to €13.50 per hour from 1 January 2025.
Under the 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, income of the applicant from employment can be deducted from their total reckonable income up to €7,925. This is not limited to holidays earnings outside of term time and allows for the potential that students studying part-time may be in full time employment. I expect to finalise the Student Part-Time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses 2025 shortly and will be reviewing the current limit.
In addition to this all income thresholds under the Student Grant Scheme and the Student Part-Time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses will increase from September 2025. The income threshold for the special rate of maintenance grant is increasing in line with Social Welfare increases and all other income thresholds are increasing by at least 15%.
