As the Deputy may be aware, the objective of the statutory based student grant scheme is to provide additional assistance where parental income is below a certain threshold or, in the case of independent mature students, where the level of income of the student and his or her spouse warrants additional assistance by way of a grant.For student grants purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents/ legal guardian or as independent mature students.A candidate's reckonable income for the purposes of the student grant means test is gross income from all sources and the gross income of his/her parents or guardians, where applicable, with certain specified Department of Social Protection Payments being exempt. Grant assistance may not be awarded in any case where the reckonable income exceeds the prescribed income limits for the award of a grant.A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course or of re-entry following a break in studies of at least three years and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous October. Otherwise he or she would continue to be assessed on the basis of parental income.In the scenario referenced by the Deputy, given that the student, albeit a mature student, is ordinarily resident with their parents, they would be assessed on the basis of parental income.
In advance of Budget 2025 this autumn, I will be publishing an options paper which will set out various possible measures to address the cost of education. I am doing this in order to facilitate public discussion on the choices available to improve student supports. I will have regard to the issue raised by the Deputy when making proposals in the context of budget discussions.
The Deputy will appreciate that the funding allocation for the Student Grant Scheme is determined in the context of the overall estimates and budgetary process undertaken by all Government Departments. All proposals made in relation to SUSI grant expenditure can only be considered in the context of the budgetary allocation, having regard to overall resource constraints and other competing demands in the further and higher education sector.
