Ninth Level Ireland

“Young asylum seekers no longer have to spend three years in the Irish school system in order to qualify for educational support at third level, the Government will announce. The latest revision to the student grant scheme for young people in direct provision, to be announced today, means asylum seekers will no longer need to have completed the Leaving Cert or have spent three years in an Irish school to be able to apply for a student grant when moving into third level …” (more)

[Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times, 10 August]

“A Kerry councillor is calling for a radical overhaul of the Student Grant Scheme due to COVID-19. Fine Gael Councillor Michael Foley says he has been contacted by parents and students who are concerned about financing their places in college and the status of their applications for maintenance grants …” (more)

[Radio Kerry News, 9 August]

“Sinn Féin spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Rose Conway-Walsh has called on Further and Higher Education to be made accessible and affordable for everyone irrespective of their age, geography or financial circumstances …” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 6 August]

“Sinn Féin TD Kathleen Funchion is calling for third-level education to be made accessible and affordable for everyone, irrespective of age, geography or financial circumstances. Deputy Funchion is asking students in the Carlow/Kilkenny constituency to ‘tell their story’ by filling out Sinn Féin’s survey on the grants system …” (more)

[Suzanne Pender, Carlow Nationalist, 6 August]

“Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the supports that have been put in place to help students returning to third-level education who are uncertain as to the way in which they will pay fees, especially in cases in which part-time income has been affected by Covid-19 …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 30 July]

“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of increasing the SUSI maintenance grant by 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 percent respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 28 July]

“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of expanding SUSI grants to cover master’s programmes; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 28 July]

“Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will raise the threshold for postgraduate SUSI grants to allow for the economic uncertainty due to Covid-19 …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 21 July]

“There are fears of a knock-on effect for student grants as the Leaving Cert results and CAO offers have been delayed until September. The Department of Education last night confirmed calculated grades for 60,000 students will not now be issued until September 7, three weeks later than usual …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly and Aoife Walsh, Independent, 17 July]

“Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if further consideration has been given to or the status of a financial package for the third-level institutions; and if so, if it will include increased SUSI, HEAR, DARE and Access funding to ensure expansion of access to third-level education …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“Sir, – The priority closing date for 2020 college grant applications is this Thursday (July 9th). The Student Universal Support Ireland service assesses gross family income from all sources in the previous calendar year, 2019, to determine student grant eligibility …” (more)

[Billy Ryle, Irish Times, 7 July]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if applicants for higher education grants that worked during the Covid-19 emergency will not incur a reduction or cessation of SUSI grant entitlement in view of the fact that they worked as requested during the emergency; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 30 June]

“Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the SUSI requirement will be reduced for students who have applied for asylum, subsidiary protection or leave to remain here from three years in a school here to two years reflecting the duration of the leaving certificate …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 16 June]

“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has expressed concern about the lack of a plan to reduce Irish student fees in the programme for government put forward by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party this week. In a statement issued today, USI said that while some elements of the programme were promising, there was a lack of detail on how a number of actions will be taken …” (more)

[Patrick Coyle, Trinity News, 18 June]

The full (draft) Programme is here; extracts related to third level are here.

“Almost four months after the general election, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party have drawn up a programme for government, which will now be put to their members for a vote …” (more)

[Aoife Kearins and Emer Moreau, University Times, 15 June]

“Despite a public appeal by more than 1,700 academics, as well as an intervention from Provost Patrick Prendergast, higher education is unlikely to get its own department under the next government …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 15 June]

“Ireland’s next government will put a ‘renewed focus’ on higher education funding, but college fees will remain the same, Fianna Fáil’s education spokesperson has said …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 15 June]

“Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the additional income provided to students that were working part-time and are now in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment will be factored into their income eligibility for student grants under SUSI in 2021 …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 9 June]

“Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the eligibility criteria for SUSI grants will be changed to take account of changed financial circumstances that parents of students are experiencing presently; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 9 June]