Meath senator calls for higher SUSI work allowance to support students in part-time jobs
Students should be allowed to work more hours during the college year without losing out on grant support, a Meath Senator has said.
Fine Gael Senator Linda Nelson Murray, who serves as the Seanad Spokesperson on Enterprise, said that the current Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) rules “unfairly penalise” students who take on part-time work while studying.
At present, SUSI permits a maximum deduction of €8,424 in “holiday earnings” for the 2025/2026 academic year. This applies to income earned outside of term time, specifically during the Easter, summer, and Christmas breaks. Any additional earnings during the academic year can reduce a student’s eligibility for grant support.
“This is unfair on the thousands of students who work on evenings or weekends to support themselves as they study,” the Meath West Senator said.
“As an owner of a small business, we have staff - particularly those in secondary school moving on to college - worried about working hours as they don’t want it to affect them obtaining grants through SUSI.”
“Many businesses have staffing issues and many students need money to support their studies and lifestyle. We must consider extending the ‘Holiday Earnings’ deduction to allow for a percentage of part-time work throughout the year. This would benefit students and businesses alike.”
Ms Nelson Murray added: “Like many, when I was in college, I worked during holidays and at weekends to support myself living away from home. It’s important to promote hard work and instill in our young people the benefits of getting up and going to work.”
“The SUSI threshold is a barrier to those students who want to stand on their own two feet as much as they can while still in full-time education.”
The Senator highlighted that at an average minimum wage of €12.15 for a 19-year-old, students working two weeks at Christmas, two weeks at Easter, and eight weeks in the summer would be left with only about eight hours a week available for term-time work without breaching the threshold.
She said: “I am calling for threshold for students working to increase €12,000 and allow it for the entire year, not just holiday earnings. This will allow students to work a couple of days per week or perhaps a couple of evenings without it impacting their SUSI grant.
“College is a great opportunity for young people to learn and grow and ultimately is a pathway to building a career and contributing to the economy.
“It’s time for a common sense approach to calculating the SUSI grant and to provide supports while also enabling students to ultimately support themselves.”