Harris launches review of financial barriers to third-level education

A review of third level fees and grants has been announced by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris. File Picture: Julien Behal

The cost of third-level education for families will form part of a comprehensive review of student grants.

Simon Harris, the higher education minister, has announced that the student grant scheme administered by Susi is to look at the financial barriers to accessing third-level education.

"There are a number of steps we have to take to address this and one of them is ensuring more people can access student grants," said Mr Harris.

The value of the maintenance grants and income thresholds, the availability of grants for part-time students, adjacent and non-adjacent rates, supports for postgraduates, and how Ireland compares against other jurisdictions will all be examined.

Mr Harris said he is conscious of the difficulties being experienced by many as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and asked that students, parents, and stakeholders take part in the consultation process which will begin early in the new year.

"I want this review to consider the current challenges facing students and to ascertain if the correct supports for eligible students are in place," he said. 

“It will look at whether the grant payments are sufficient in size and scale, how we can better support people who have to move out from home to go to college, whether part-time students should be eligible for grant supports, and crucially how Ireland compares internationally," he said.

Susi received 100,000 student grant applications for the 2020/2021 academic year with more than 77,500 students assessed as eligible for support.

Additional funding of €20m was secured in Budget 2021 to deal with extra demands due to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Stephen Donnelly, the health minister, has announced that patients who are prescribed medical cannabis products will no longer need to travel to the Netherlands to collect their medication.

A delivery service from the Netherlands to Ireland to assist patients of licenced clinicians in obtaining their prescribed cannabis products was established in April. This was on a temporary basis due to the Covid-related restrictions around travel. This will now be made permanent.