Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I appreciate the table was not circulated in the House. What is the minimum, maximum or average time it takes to process these claims? A figure of 4,000 outstanding still in October seems a significant number. I appreciate that if people did not apply on time, they cannot be processed on time. However, what about those who did? From the people I know, I am sure a significant number of that 4,000 applied on time. The situation is a bit like dealing with the third level grant and will be an annual problem. Has the Minister any plans to front-load staff in the future to deal with the issue? The facilitators I have dealt with have been excellent in helping people, but there is a problem in that people are borrowing to attend third level in the expectation of receiving the allowance. If they do not get it now, we will see them drop out of the system.

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