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

I welcome Ms Stewart and her team. Today is very different to the heated meeting we had in November.

As a result of that meeting and the fact we got the opportunity to question the group, there was more focus on rectifying the existing problems as soon as possible.

One of the things said at the meeting was that we must get through the backlog of applicants and get as many students as possible their grants so they have their money and then we can review what went wrong. We all know the whole system was a complete dog's dinner but it was not solely down to SUSI. The Department also must take responsibility for much of what went wrong last year. It is clear from the report that one of the biggest issues was that the staff promised to SUSI did not get there on time and, as a result, there was constant firefighting.

Having said that, it is clear from our own meetings with the team in recent weeks and from the briefings we have had that many of these issues have been rectified and should not reoccur this year. We know the systems that have been put in place and the issues that arose last year. In fairness to SUSI, I am more confident we will not see the same level of disorganisation and disarray that we saw last year which resulted in some students being forced to drop out of college. The witnesses went through some of the systems that have been put in place to talk directly to the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection, and all of those will help. There is a new website up and running and since the application process was opened for 2013-14. We have had no correspondence to our office and no complaints about the new system.

There are some areas where the message could be better communicated, such as what people are actually entitled to. There was a lot of confusion last year over what students, particularly those studying outside the State, were entitled to. Perhaps the witnesses could put on record the entitlements, if they are fees, maintenance grants and so on. In the Six Counties, not all colleges fall under the remit and even in the colleges that do, not all courses come under the remit. It is an opportunity to put that on the record.

There was also a big issue last year where people were being told to appeal decisions when they should have just been reviewed. If that had happened, those students could have been taken out of the system much earlier. What process has been put in place to ensure we do not see a repeat of that this year?

The other major complaint was that even when students were approved for a maintenance grant and fees, payment was often delayed. The provision of bank details was a major area of complaint and I know SUSI has rectified that. How was that done? It is important that the committee and the media communicate that fact. There is a confidence issue still surrounding this, and going by the last 12 months, because of the failings within SUSI and the whole grant system, there will be an apprehension around whether that will be repeated this year. I am confident we are not going to see the same level of problems, although things can pop up and we must react to them. I am satisfied that the systems put in place for the coming year will address many of the major issues identified in the report that caused so many difficulties. If SUSI can outline how it has dealt with those issues, perhaps the media will pick up on it and we can restore some of the confidence in the system.