Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Let me respond. Yesterday morning was the first time that I heard about the matter. The members have heard the answer that I gave and I am not resiling from that response today.

There is a new system called the Student Universal Support System, SUSI. The legislation to facilitate it was introduced by my predecessor and the City of Dublin VEC won the contract to administer it. I am happy to say that 66 administrative bodies have been reduced to one and I am reliably informed that the new system is working satisfactorily. The person in Clare mentioned in this instance was already in receipt of a grant and dealt with the granting authority which was Clare County Council. It could just as easily have been Clare VEC. I have not given any consideration yet to the implications of the case and I await developments but that is my position as of today.