Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Stewart and her officials for their presentation. Our meeting a couple of weeks ago was very informative and I was pleased to note the changes made in SUSI. When local authorities and vocational education committees handled third level grants, I used to deal with students who did not receive grant payments until after Christmas. Unfortunately, in the case of SUSI the work done by 26 local authorities was transferred to one body and people did not do their homework. I come from a self-employed background. When one sets up a business, perception, presentation and the way one starts out are very important. Unfortunately, mistakes were made in the case of SUSI. I understand the organisation originally had between 40 and 50 staff and the figure subsequently doubled. Is that correct?