Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the officials for coming in today at such short notice. Ms Stewart said twice during her presentation that the system is working. That is simply not true and that is not only my opinion. I have received tens of e-mails from students over the weekend who would also be of the view that the system is not working. Some of the issues students have raised with us include a student who is attending college 155 km from their residence yet only receives an adjacent grant rather than a non-adjacent grant. That is not the only instance of that issue that has been raised with us. Some students who have had their grants processed are now appealing those decisions because they believe the grant that was awarded was not the correct grant. Can Ms Stewart indicate the number of appeals that have been submitted to date?

When SUSI first raised the issue of the backlog with the Department what was its response? Did Ms Stewart ask for additional resources to be put in place to deal with the backlog and, if so, what was the response? Did SUSI get all the additional resources sought and, if not, was there a reason it did not get them? Is Ms Stewart satisfied with the numbers working in SUSI? As Deputy McConalogue said, there is a difference between the numbers Ms Stewart has given us and the numbers the Minister has stated in the past number of days. Ms Stewart is talking about 96 and 79 staff which is nearly 180 staff and we are being told that the number has increased to 85. I would like to know which figure is correct. Are the figures Ms Stewart gave us correct or is the Minister mistaken about the number who are working in SUSI?

Can Ms Stewart give us some background to what happens to the packs when they are sent off? Is it true they are sent to an outside company which compiles them, uploads them on to a computer file from which they are then sent back to SUSI? The information we have is that the SUSI office is a paperless one, that no documentation goes to SUSI and that it goes to an outside agency, and that is where the documentation is being lost. I have received an e-mail from an individual indicating that when their original documents were sent back they included documentation belonging to a different student, a birth certificate of another student, which that student then returned to SUSI. I would certainly disagree with Ms Stewart's statement that the system is working.

It is clear that the system is not working. I want to know what the City of Dublin VEC and the Department have done to try to ensure that every application currently awaiting processing will be dealt with in time. The indication is that the backlog will be addressed before Christmas. I would also like information on the number of appeals that have been made on decisions taken to date.