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

I accept that the Chair, acting as the referee, cannot interfere with the game. Perhaps it is the democrat in me but I would sooner have a dialogue than allow people to make speeches to each other. I listened carefully to what Deputy McConalogue had to say on behalf of Fianna Fáil. I also listened to Deputy Martin, who left a number of hostages to fortune given his record in this area. However, citing his record will not accelerate a single application or make it easier for the student who is, as Deputy Troy pointed out, living on pasta and tomato sauce. That is a reality for some students.

Deputy McConalogue pointed out that six weeks remain until Christmas. That is the timeframe in which we are trying to deal with the 33,000 applications in the system. Every student who has a problem should use the online facility to ensure he or she has communicated the information requested by SUSI. The students who have decided against pursuing their grant applications because they know they do not qualify would facilitate other students if they informed SUSI they are terminating their applications. At least 8,000 students - I put a question around that figure because I am not entirely sure - are not advancing their applications, as has been the case in the past, because they cannot provide the information requested. If these students indicated online they are no longer looking for a grant it would be like moving a line of cars out of a traffic jam to allow others to proceed. I appeal to Deputies and those following the debate in the Visitors Gallery to ask those who are not actively pursuing applications, because they know in their hearts they will not qualify, to communicate that to SUSI in order to reduce the numbers which have to be processed. I would prefer SUSI staff to be processing live applications from people who really want a grant than to be working on an application from somebody who knows he or she does not qualify.

I deeply regret this has happened. We were given to understand that the information technology had been processed and the systems were in place. There was optimism that the new system would work but it has not worked as well as we wanted. This is its first year of operation. The students come first. My priority is to process the applications as quickly as possible so that we provide certainty to the vast majority of applicants this side of Christmas. I hope the figure is 33,000 but I cannot be certain of that. When it is all over let us learn the lessons from what did not work so that we can remove the obstacles and barriers and ensure the system works much better next year.

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