Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 October 2025
472. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reasons a research stipend of a PhD student cannot be included as income in an application for a local authority home loan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56891/25]
View answerIncome arising from a scholarship held by an individual receiving full-time instruction at a university, college, school or other educational establishment is exempt from income tax, Universal Social Charge (USC) and PRSI where the conditions for the relief, in accordance with Section 193 of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997 are met.
Ph.D. researchers who avail of the reliefs under this section of the Taxes Consolidation Act are not currently considered as employees and the stipend paid is non-taxable as it is treated as a scholarship for tax purposes, not income.
Repayment capacity for the Local Authority Home Loan is generally assessed on earned income. As the income from this type of Ph.D research is not classified as earned income for taxation purposes it is not included in the calculation of repayment capacity for a loan under the Local Authority Home Loan scheme.
