Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No one can deny that SUSI has not performed as well as had been hoped. However, recognition must be given to the Minister in acknowledging the problem and apologising for it. It is to his credit that he has never shied away from admitting when something was wrong in his Department and he has always moved immediately to correct any mistake that has arisen. I have every confidence that SUSI will perform better next year with the benefit of having learned from this year's mistakes.

Once again, Fianna Fáil is seeking to make political hay out of the Government's attempt to deal with a mess created by it. SUSI is a move in the right direction with respect to streamlining the grant system. Delays were experienced in the previous system administered by VECs and county councils. As locally elected representatives, we are aware of significant problems in all political spectrums. The Donegal Democrat carried a report on 28 December 2009 complaining of such delays, with students still waiting for their first maintenance grants to arrive in December. The article quoted a local councillor as saying at the time that "the situation must be addressed to ease [the students'] difficulties" and that " the [then Fianna Fáil] government’s delay in confirming this year’s allocations put county council’s and VECs under 'severe pressure' to process grant applications quickly." The then councillor said it was unacceptable that some of the applications were still outstanding and would not be paid until after Christmas. That councillor's name was Charlie McConalogue, now Deputy McConalogue, a person for whom I have the height of respect in regard to the intention of this motion.

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