Grant Payments
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

SUSI operates an appeals process. It continues to refine its processes. I have asked it to do that. We ran advertisement campaigns last summer for the first time. I initiated that because some students were not aware of their eligibility for the grant. The income thresholds are now very high. They are up to €120,000 for certain grants, which was unheard of previously. Some families on middle incomes may not have been aware that they were eligible for grants. As a result, we ran advertising campaigns to make sure that they found out.
In terms of the reasons students may not succeed in getting grants, sometimes they are in receipt of other State grants. For example, if a student is receiving the back to education allowance from the Department of Social Protection, he or she cannot be paid on the double. Another reason is if an applicant does not progress. If students get to a certain point and drop out of the course, fail exams or do not progress for various reasons, they obviously cannot get grants. In addition, grants are not awarded if the course selected is not eligible. There are various courses, some of which are outside the system and would not be eligible. Another reason for refusal is if students have been studying for beyond the maximum period. Students who have been studying for a number of years and have exceeded their allowable term will not be awarded SUSI grants. Likewise, those who are in receipt of scholarships or bursaries from somewhere else will not be awarded grants.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29