Ninth Level Ireland

“To mark World Refugee Day, the Irish Universities Association (IUA) and the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) are delighted to jointly welcome a rule change in the Department of Education and Skills Student Support Scheme for students living in direct provision, which will allow a greater number of young people in or having come through direct provision to gain a financially supported place in an Irish university …” (more)

[IUA, 20 June]

“Student grant rules for eligible Irish students in UK higher education institutions and UK students in Irish HEIs remain as usual for 2019/20. The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD and Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD today announced the opening of the Student Grant Scheme for applications for the 2019/20 academic year and highlighted a number of improvements that will benefit some of the most disadvantaged students …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 25 April]

“Irish students who want to study in the UK after Brexit, or UK students who want to attend third-level here, have certainty about continuation of the current fees regime for the duration of their studies if they start this September. Nor will there be any change to student grants, and Irish students in the UK will also be able to access student loans there …” (more)

[Independent, 6 March]

“Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position with regard to the restoration of post-graduate grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 22 January]

“An administrative oversight led to Trinity College Dublin undercharging students €1.7 million in university fees, which the college is now looking to recover. In total 509 students were undercharged registration fees over the past three years, with some students and recent graduates now owing the university as much as €9,000 …” (more)

[Jack Power, Irish Times, 16 January]

“Some Trinity students and graduates are faced with paying outstanding fees from previous years, due to administrative confusion over the SUSI grant. Over the past three years, students whose grants fell short of what they expected were never charged for the remainder of their fees …” (more)

[Eleanor O’Mahony, University Times, 15 January]

“Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of increasing the third-level maintenance grant by 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 8 November]

“Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated full year cost of continuing the restoration of postgraduate grants with the restoration of the partial band rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 25 October]

“There will be no increase to the third-level grant received by students in the Budget despite spiralling rents, the Irish Independent understands. Increasing the Susi grant has not featured in any of the budgetary discussions that have taken place up to now …” (more)

[Kevin Doyle, Independent, 21 August]

“New applications for student grants are down more than 2,000 so far this year, figures from the awarding body reveal. Of nearly 72,000 applications received by Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) up to the start of the week, 34,050 are from new applicants who are mostly people who did the Leaving Certificate in June. That is down from 36,376 at the same stage a year ago, and from nearly 38,300 in 2016 …” (more)

[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 7 July]

“Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to reduce the non-adjacent rate of the grant below the current 45 km; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 4 July]

“Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of restoring maintenance grants for postgraduate students to pre-2012 levels …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 26 June]

“The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD, today announced the opening of the Student Grant Scheme for applications for the 2018/19 academic year and highlighted a number of improvements that will benefit some of the most disadvantaged students …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 5 April]

“More than €2.8m in overpayments of grants for college students were outstanding at the end of 2016. The figures include €1.6m paid incorrectly during that year arising from ongoing assessments by Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) in relation to eligibility for grants or students withdrawing from courses …” (more)

[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 10 February]

“Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of restoring SUSI grant rates and thresholds to pre-2011 levels; and the number of estimated additional students that would be eligible under the scheme if grants were restored to these levels …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 7 November]

“Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to increase funding for and make changes to the SUSI grant to deliver increases in grants for students in view of the rise in the costs of living; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 25 October]

“Hundreds of students from less well-off families who attend private third-level colleges in Ireland should be entitled to grants, an Oireachtas committee has recommended. Unlike the rest of the higher education sector, students at private colleges – such as Griffith College and Dublin Business School – are not entitled to grant support, even though these courses are approved by the State’s education quality watchdog, Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 7 October]

Recommendations: ‘… The Committee further recommends that, subject to the course and college being QQI approved, eligibility for a maintenance grant should be based on the means of the student rather than on the choice of college. This approach could result in an increase in competition among colleges and may reduce costs. The Committee further recommends that students enrolled at private colleges should, if eligible under the relevant SUSI criteria, be entitled to the same value of SUSI funding for payment of annual degree course fees that they would receive at an equivalent course in a state funded higher education institution. The Committee further recommends that students enrolled in private colleges should be entitled to access the Student Assistance Fund.’

“Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of decreasing the non-adjacent rate of third level grants from 45 to 24 kilometres; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 27 September]

“15 asylum seekers sought a grant to attend third-level education in 2016, and two were successful. The number of those who applied also dropped from 39 in 2015 to 15 in 2016. The grant scheme is operated by the Department of Education to offer financial aid to school leavers who are in the protection scheme or have come through it …” (more)

[Niamh Keating, Trinity News, 15 September]