Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 11 June 2015

Public Accounts Committee

Special Report No. 88 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Restructuring the Administration of Student Grants

10:00 am

Ms Jacinta Stewart:

Yes. Obviously we learned a huge amount from 2012-13. We have subject matter experts. We have people who have expertise in particular areas of the grant. We have moved towards a higher proportion of more permanent staff so that we have a continuous staff with a lot of experience. We have particular areas where we might have difficulty. In the first year, we had 100% of people to train from the beginning. Even with our seasonal build-up, that would now be running at around 30%. Therefore, the balance is a more experienced staff. In terms of our training, people get individual training, hands-on training and mentoring. They are part of a team, and they have a team captain and a team leader. About 40% of all assessment work is quality-assessed. There is a whole range of supports in place, largely built out of that initial experience, again with a view to trying to get it right.

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