Pulse expresses disappointment at stipend receiving students’ lack of eligibility to government supplement

Students who receive their monthly stipend are not eligible for the government’s €500 part-time supplement 

Student organisation Pulse has expressed its disappointment at students’ lack of eligibility for the government’s €500 supplement to part-time workers due to them receiving their monthly stipends. 

In a statement, Pulse said that students should not be put in a position where they are faced with the decision to either choose receiving their stipends or the government supplement. 

“It should not be a matter of either or, especially in the situation where many must work to be able to help their families,” the student organisation said. 

In a society where students are encouraged to work, faced with such a choice would be contradictory, Pulse said. 

“It is not easy being a full-time student and be employed on a part-time basis at the same time, however students manage to do both as €90 a month for many students is simply not enough to get through the month,” the statement read. 

Whilst acknowledging government efforts to ease pressures caused by COVID-19, Pulse urged government to rethink the measure and “hold students at heart”.