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

I think an Teachta O'Connell is standing in for an Teachta Roche. I acknowledge that he raised this issue with me during Questions on Policy or Legislation earlier in the week. It is an important issue. This is a universal scheme. Means testing of reckonable income is applied to students on an equal basis.
I will recap the rules that pertain to mature students. A student is considered to be independent or mature if he or she has attained the age of 23 at the start of the calendar year and has not ordinarily been resident with his or her parents from the previous 1 October. By contrast, if students are living in the family home, they are assessed as dependent students. I know the Deputy is asking whether it is correct for that to be the case. I appreciate it is difficult, particularly at a time when housing needs are not always met and people are living in the family home by necessity rather than necessarily by choice. It is a difficult situation intergenerationally as well.
A number of improvements have been made to the scheme. The eligibility thresholds have increased by about 15% across the board. The student contribution was permanently cut by €500, which could contribute towards affordability. In addition, all the non-adjacent grants have been increased. The student assistance fund has also been increased to an historic high. Various other supports for things like disability and mental health were also brought into the system through the recent budget.

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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