Ms Kay Cullinane:

Currently, 14,000 of the 25,000 packs we have on hand with SUSI are being checked for valid documents. The large majority of them are being checked for the second or third time. They were returned because the checklist did not come in complete more than once, which will mean that it will be possible to do the check more quickly on this occasion as we will simply be checking for the one or two pieces of documentation that are still outstanding and those applications will move up to us more quickly than applications requiring initial assessment.

A total of 5,600 packs are with us at the moment having gone through a complete document validation and they are ready for us to assess and move them on to final award or refusal stage. In addition, we have 5,250 new applications. We received approximately 10,000 applications after the closing date and 5,000 of those remain to be provisionally assessed. That accounts for the packs on-hand.

A total of 20,500 packs are still awaiting supporting documentation; 14,500 of those applicants have not yet responded to us with any documentation and another 6,000 are back with the students because they were submitted to us incomplete. We have requested the students to send in the additional information.

I will answer Deputy Keating’s question on the applications that are completed and at award stage. The 9,500 applications that were refused is the total number of applications refused to date since the scheme opened. Awards or awards pending subject to final course details have been made in 11,000 cases.