Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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I thank the officials for attending. I will be brief because many of the points I wanted to raise have already been made. Moving from 66 awarding bodies to one was always going to be problematic. It was always the case that there would be teething problems. Nobody has a difficulty with that but most members did not expect so many problems. Members throughout the country are inundated with representations from exasperated applicants.

What message does the delegation have for those students who are considering dropping out? I received a communication from a gentleman who told me he has already dropped out of his course because of the delay in processing his application. What message can SUSI give directly to students or the third level colleges on the issue of dropping out? I do not want it on my conscience, nor do the delegates want it on theirs, that somebody's educational potential will be limited because of a glitch in the SUSI system. Nobody wants to stand over that.