Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome what the Minister says about parents. At a time when a parent is letting a child fly the nest, it is very worrying to be unsure about what accommodation is available, whether it is up to standard and where exactly it is located. That is what is so good about purpose-built and on-campus accommodation. It gives students, in particular first years, and their parents the reassurance they need that they are somewhere safe and known. I appreciate that the Minister is new in the role but this is something we need to continue to work on, including in the education committee. There are many studies on this. Credit unions have produced a study showing how many people are nearly being forced to use money lenders. They have got to the stage where they have borrowed to put one child through college and a second child comes along before the first has graduated. People are getting to the stage of nearly having to go to money lenders because they want their children to move on to further education. That is unacceptable in this day and age and it is a matter we must address. That is why I refer to the need to reform SUSI. Not everything is black and white and not everyone fits into the same category. The system we used to have meant one could call to a local VEC office regarding a grant but that is all gone now. It is now just a person on the phone and one either fits the category or one does not. There is no room for any sort of discretion, which is not necessarily a good thing. Perhaps we can look at reform of SUSI in further discussions.

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