Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have already made it clear to the Higher Education Authority that it is not acceptable for students to be placed at any disadvantage because of any delays. In response to Deputy Troy's contribution, I must point out that it is not my role to communicate directly with individual colleges in this regard. The intermediary is the Higher Education Authority, to which I have written on a number of occasions asking it to make sure that the colleges under its authority do not penalise students because their grants have not come through yet. The HEA has written to all higher education institutions to convey this message on two occasions. Let me state clearly that it is not acceptable for colleges to prevent students from accessing libraries, e-mail accounts, lecture notes or any other resource because their grants have not yet been processed.

Even after such issues are resolved, I am conscious that some students are still facing significant financial difficulties because of these delays. Let me put it clearly on the record of the House that I apologise formally to those students and their parents for the distress these delays are causing. Ultimately, as the Minister for Education and Skills, I accept responsibility.

I am aware that representatives of SUSI attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection this morning. In fact, I happened to listen in to most of the debate, and no doubt other Deputies will refer to that discussion. I wish to clarify one particular point: all of the requests related to staffing and other resources that the Department has received from SUSI to date have been granted. SUSI has not been denied any request for resources or staffing. I further assure the House that the Department remains open to any further request from SUSI for additional support. SUSI is now staffed to the level it has requested and I expect it to get on with the job it has been asked to do and to ensure that all students receive their grants as soon as possible. There will be plenty of time to learn lessons from the problems and delays that occurred this year and to ensure these never arise again. For now, however, I want all eligible students to be paid their grants and to get on with their third level education without the worry and distraction of wondering when they will be paid.

When the Fianna Fáil Minister for Education and Skills brought in the proposal to merge the 66 different organisations that were responsible for administering and allocating student grants, it seemed to me - and still seems - a no-brainer. I am hearing nothing from the movers of this motion to indicate that they want to go back to the past. That is a fair interpretation of the position articulated-----

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