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

I thank the Deputy for his questions. The Department had no experience of administering the grant system and from day one, there were 66 different bodies involved, with the county councils on one hand and vocational educational committees on the other. We did not get a centralised reporting mechanism back to the Department to indicate which counties were doing well, although there were anecdotal stories of delays which every one of us would have got as Deputies or Senators. They issues were dealt with locally or at council level.

The Student Support Act 2011 was supported by all parties, including my own in opposition, and I facilitated the Bill's passage before the Dáil disintegrated before the election. Three bodies expressed an interest in performing the grant awarding function and representatives were interviewed by the Department, which had overall responsibility under the new Act but no operational experience in that regard. The three groups which submitted an interest in running the project had operational experience and the City of Dublin VEC - the largest in population terms in the country - made the most convincing bid.

Did we get it wrong? Yes, we got it collectively wrong. Are we fixing it? I believe we are. Have I examined what happened in the Department? I have done so and I am giving the Deputy an analysis of what was given to me, and I have no reason to second-guess that. We have it right now but I will not take my eye off the ball this year because of the reasons which the Deputy brought to my attention last year.

See this speech in context