Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the company in Cork which got the contract, the Minister said no cost benefit analysis was carried out. Unfortunately, however, there is a cost and it is being borne by the students. Nearly every Deputy has received probably in excess of 300 e-mails from students, many of whom are complaining that documentation which they previously sent in is now being requested again. This is still occurring right up to today. In respect of the targets that have been set, the Minister said it was their certainty rather than his that the targets would be met. In fairness, the Minister said that every staffing resource which has been requested has been allocated. That will give some comfort to people. However, there is a responsibility on the Minister not to rely on their certainty but to be certain himself that the targets will be met. There is also an onus on him to look at the procedures they are implementing to try to achieve their targets. If he is not happy with them, he should not wait for SUSI to request more resources. I have no confidence in SUSI or the CDVEC. It is clear that the targets they set initially have not been met and the targets they outlined to the committee last week are not being met, so the onus is on the Minister to look at the procedures and to allocate additional resources. He should not wait for those bodies to refer back to him on that because they might not do so.

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