Gino Kenny presses Taoiseach on PUP's impact on SUSI grants
Gino Kenny questioned the Taoiseach about students who received the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) last year and the problems they now face obtaining SUSI student grants. He called for action after reports of reduced grants, qualifying-income disqualifications and course deferrals affecting students ahead of the new term.
Issue raised
Gino Kenny outlined cases in which students who received the PUP have seen reduced SUSI grants, had their qualifying income disqualified or been required to defer their courses. He said the situation is creating significant stress for students coming into September and asked what the government is doing to mitigate the effects.
Taoiseach's response
The Taoiseach responded that the PUP in some respects reflected what people were earning and that the pandemic unemployment payment was an exceptional, unprecedented support for students. The Taoiseach described the PUP as a prolonged and exceptional welfare payment from the Department of Social Protection to students during the pandemic.
Request for individual follow-up
The Taoiseach invited the submission of individual cases so the extent of the problem can be assessed. He asked that cases suggesting the PUP pushed people over SUSI income thresholds be forwarded for follow‑up to determine the scale and specific issues involved.
Assessment of thresholds and earnings
The Taoiseach noted that the PUP rate generally reflected a person’s earnings, though not perfectly, and that in some instances a person might previously have been earning more which would affect eligibility thresholds. He said the department can follow through on individual cases to clarify and address where necessary.
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I'm Carla, Taoiseach, I want to raise an issue in relation to students that were in receipt of the PUP payment last year and obviously there are difficulties now when they're applying for grants, the SUSI grants, and some have had a reduced SUSI grant, some have had a kind of their qualifying income completely disqualified and some have been completely deferred their course completely. Now this obviously has a lot of stress on students come September, but what is the government doing in relation to mitigating this situation, in relation to students that have been kind of discriminated against because obviously they got the PUP payment last year, they were working, they accepted that, that's fair enough, but now they've been punished come the SUSI grants come September. Thank you, Taoiseach. The PUP in some respects reflected very much what people were earning, the PUP represented an unprecedented support of students because it would have been the first time when students would have received payments, welfare payment from the Department of Social Protection, and obviously the pandemic unemployment payment was an exceptional payment in the context of the pandemic, but it still represents a very unprecedented support of students by government over a prolonged period of time. Now if you have cases where you're suggesting that the PUP may put people over the threshold, you might forward them to us so we can get an extent of the problem and the issues, but generally speaking, the PUP rate was reflected, not totally obviously, what a person would have been earning, a person might have been earning even a bit more, which would have rendered them below or above the threshold if that's what you're saying is the case, but we can follow through in the individual cases and see what the extent of the problem is. Thank you. Thank you.
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