Ms Jacinta Stewart:

I am glad of the opportunity to give an update on SUSI. I am chief executive officer of the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee. In November 2012, SUSI management and I, as CEO, met the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection and reported on the operation of SUSI at that time. In January 2013 an update was issued to the joint committee following its request to have it for its meeting on 19 June 2013.

I shall outline the present position. The scheme for 2012-13 is now closed. The scheme for 2013-14 has opened and a number of changes have been made to the application process for the coming year. A dedicated website susi.ie is now in place and contains supporting information for all grant applicants.

Grant renewals is a responsibility for this year. Renewal of grants for eligible applicants has commenced using the newly developed online renewal process and caters for existing SUSI students.

An external review of the operation of SUSI was commissioned by CDVEC and carried out by Accenture. The review was published and forms the basis for significant structural reform of the management and administration of SUSI. The review's main recommendation is that the SUSI grants process be developed, on an agreed phased basis, over the coming years to be a fully web-based integrated automated grant application system. The review found that SUSI had essentially a year to plan and implement its proposed new operating model for managing student grants at national level. It identified a number of critical issues during the set-up phase that contributed to the operational issues experienced during the first few months. It also acknowledged that SUSI had difficulty in securing all of the staff resources it required in the timeframe outlined in the agreed implementation plan. Consequently, a significant amount of management time was spent addressing staff resourcing issues.

There were communications and expectation difficulties that resulted in insufficient clarity and understanding provided to applicants regarding key dates, deadlines and documentary evidence required to support applications. That complicated an already complex grants scheme for applicants, staff and other stakeholders. It also contributed to different stakeholder expectations of what SUSI would deliver and when. The resourcing and other issues experienced during set up and subsequently were largely resolved.

With regard to information sharing, major processing development improvements have been achieved this year that includes the exchange of key data with Government and other agencies. To date SUSI has agreed the following: direct transfer of data from Revenue Commissioners; direct access to appropriate Department of Social Protection or social welfare records; direct transfer of data from Central Applications Office; that course registration confirmation from individual universities and colleges will be confirmed as appropriate; that direct access to the Department of Education and Skill's pupil database records to establish and meet residency requirements will be available; and that the General Registration Office for confirmation of dates of birth and nationality will also be available.

The ability to accommodate direct electronic communication with different public and private sector agencies is a core strength of SUSI. It will greatly contribute to reducing the overall volume of paperwork from in excess of 1.8 million documents in 2012-2013. This in turn will improve the experience of applicants in responding to document requests from SUSI and will greatly increase the efficiency of the grant awarding process in the coming year.

We have examined communications in great detail. A number of significant developments have been introduced to improve communication with applicants. These improvements include: Publication of the susi.ie website for information and access to online applications; development of an online tracker system for applicants to monitor the progress of their applications; a structured email contact with existing students for the grant renewals process so that we can identify the existing students in receipt of grants and have been in direct contact with them; and a regular email contact with students through the CAO list. The CAO asks students using its system to file an application whether they will lodge an application with SUSI. Therefore, SUSI has had direct access to those students. I will continue to list the improvements as follows: Messaging of close by and return by dates for applicants; messaging of the need for self-employed and farmers to finalise their 2012 returns early; improved letter templates; an extensive use of social media; and a national campaign is taking place and this week there will also be local radio campaigns.

By the end of June 2013, SUSI had received a total of 69,683 grant applications for the academic year 2012-13. There are 118 cases outstanding that are complicated and difficult. We awarded 39,524 grants and 30,041 people were ineligible. The award category means that 39,524 students have been approved for either a full grant or a fees only grant, that the grant had been paid and that all activity regarding the grant application had been finalised. The ineligible category includes all those who were refused because they did not meet the eligibility criteria. It also includes those who cancelled or withdrew their application. In many cases this happened because applicants realised, after making their application, that they did not meet the eligibility criteria. Applications in the "awaiting student documentation" category includes a very small number of residual applications that are still under examination.

By the end of 2012 grants processing was fully up to date for completed applications and the turnaround at that stage was 48 hours. By the end of December 2012, almost 70% of the full year out-turn of awarded grants had already been awarded. By the end of January 2013 the figure had risen to 85%. The scheme for 2012-13 is now formally closed. Approximately 12,000 applications were received after the formal closing date of 31 August.

SUSI has an internal review process that is followed by an independent internal and external appeals processes which ensures that all applicants are treated in a fair and consistent manner. The total number of successful internal appeals for 2012-13 was 4,260 or 6% of the total of 69,693 applications received.

The scheme for 2013-14 has been open since 20 May and SUSI has been processing new grant applications and grant renewals since that date. The opening date is three weeks ahead of the equivalent date in 2012-13. We have already received 30,428 applications for 2013-14 of which 13,841 are new applications and 16,587 are renewal applications.

SUSI expected a total of around 26,000 applications for renewal. By 13 June we had received 16,587 applications. Grant renewal is a simple online process. Students whose financial circumstances are unchanged are able to renew their grants by ticking four simple questions on an online form. By building on the information that is already available to us we can process renewals in a timely and efficient manner. SUSI does not expect that all 39,000 grantholders of 2012-13 will apply for grant renewal for a variety of reasons. A number attend one year post leaving certificate or post-graduate courses, others will drop out and a number will not meet formal progression criteria for continuity on their chosen course. I will give a breakdown of the status of the 16,587 renewal applications received as of 13 June. Effectively, 12,701 renewal applications have been awarded, 86 are ineligible, 3,345 are awaiting initial assessment, 423 await student documentation and 32 await final assessment. The closing date for renewals was Friday, 14 June 2013. A number of current grantholders have yet to formally apply for grant renewal and SUSI will be contacting those students to generate their appropriate application form. Some flexibility will be shown regarding the closing date for renewals.

Renewing students whose circumstances have changed will be reassessed and may be required to submit evidence of the change so that a new assessment of grant eligibility can be made. Grant renewal is subject to progression to the next year of the college course and confirmation will be obtained by SUSI directly from the college in question where possible.

The system of application will be much simpler for new applicants in 2013-14 than in 2012-13. I mentioned the links with bodies such as the Revenue Commissioners, social welfare records at the Department of Social Protection, the CAO, universities and colleges, the Department of Education and Skills pupil database records and the General Registration Office, GRO. This means the majority of applicants do not have to directly provide documents such as P60 or P21 forms, social welfare information and college information. The capacity to engage directly at a macro level with other State bodies is a key strength of a single awarding body. This capacity will provide accurate and certified information to SUSI and will significantly speed up the determination of grant eligibility for all applicants.

For some applicants, just two items of information will be required in order to make decisions on eligibility and payment. These are the signed student declaration form and the student bank information details. For the self-employed and farming community, a grant cannot be awarded until SUSI has received a notice of assessment issued by the Revenue Commissioners. In order to get a notice of assessment, these applicants will need to file their end of year returns to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of their 2012 accounts as soon as possible. A breakdown of the status of the 13,841 applications received as of 13 June is as follows. Some 395 were awarded or provisionally awarded, 870 were ineligible, 3,858 are awaiting initial assessment, 7,618 are awaiting student documentation and 1,100 are awaiting final assessment. We have developed strong partnership links with all stakeholders in the grant application process. It recognises values and intends to build on those links. By combining strong partnership with experienced external professional analysis and advice, we intend to deliver a better service to grant applicants in 2013-14 and beyond.