Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue. The Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, scheme was launched this year. It was an innovative and welcome move to establish what is effectively a one-stop-shop for grant applications, where the application can be made quickly and on-line. However, there have been some teething difficulties with the start-up and implementation of that system for support and grant applications.

Some of the people who have called to my office to outline the issues that are affecting them have been waiting a long time for information and, indeed, payment of their grant. It is now November and, as most people who have attended university or any third level institution know, the costs mainly occur in September when one must pay a deposit for accommodation and pay for books, clothes, stationery and so forth to get started. This is particularly the case for first years because they are starting in a completely new realm of education. Some of the delays are causing real hardship in terms of paying for rent, fuel bills, books and so forth. It is putting huge pressure on student assistance funds, as I have seen at National University of Ireland, NUI, Galway and the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT.

The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Sherlock, is a graduate of the wonderful university NUI Galway and he will be aware that the university caters for a large part of the west, which is more disadvantaged than the east and therefore has a greater number of students dependent on grants to fund their university education. The same is true for GMIT. As a representative of a very student orientated city, I ask that the delays taking place, which are causing such hardship in Galway and across the country, be tackled by the Department and the Minister's office to ensure that everything is done to alleviate the problems and clear the backlog. Account should be taken of the hardship being suffered by students at a very traumatic time for many, when they have just left home for a new experience in a new educational environment. This money is badly needed. The people who receive grants are, by definition, from backgrounds of lower economic means so they need the money even more.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for ensuring this very important topic was put on the Dáil's agenda. At the outset, I will refer to what the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, said when he launched the new central grants authority, SUSI, on 12 June last. He told us the process is quick and easy, that students did not have to decide on their college course before applying and that they would be informed much more quickly on the outcome of their application. He pointed out that many students had been obliged to wait for lengthy periods for their grants in the past and faced undue hardship as a result of such delays. Now, he said, once the application was approved, students would receive monthly electronic fund transfers into their bank accounts during the academic year. He said it was an excellent example of public sector reform, and that these reforms would ensure better customer service for all students who rely on grants.

Where is the Minister today and where has he been for the last number of weeks, when this new grants authority he established failed to deliver? Students across the country have been left without grants and, in fact, are wondering whether they will receive them. We regularly see the Minister stepping up to the podium when there is a big announcement or launch to be made. However, where is he when we require follow through and delivery of his big announcements? Unfortunately, of the 66,000 students that applied there are 50,000 still waiting to hear whether they will even be awarded the grant, let alone be paid. Where has the Minister been during these months while this crisis has been growing? He is nowhere to be seen or heard. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Sherlock, but it is unfortunate that the Minister is not here. I do not mind if he is abroad because he has not been seen for months to deal with this issue. It is past time that there was some action on it.

In his first comments on this issue yesterday, in correspondence to Deputies, the Minister informed us that he is establishing a contact line for Deputies to contact SUSI about grant applications. The first time we have heard from him, therefore, is when his backbenchers are getting on his back about what is happening here. His response is to set up a telephone line for them. What about the 50,000 students throughout the country who do not know whether they are going to get a grant and, given the way this has been handled, who will very likely still not receive it until after Christmas? I hope the Minister of State will have some news about how this problem will be resolved quickly. The Minister telling us he feels bad about it will not be much consolation for the 50,000 students who are currently trying to put themselves through college and who cannot even get an answer as to whether they will receive a grant.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, who is travelling to Brussels on Government business. I thank the Deputies for raising this important matter. A new, fully centralised student grant application system was launched on 11 June and is being operated by a central grant awarding authority, the Student Universal Support Ireland, which is known by the wonderful acronym SUSI and which has been established as a unit of the city of Dublin VEC. Until last year, students applied to 66 local authorities and VECs for grant assistance. This is the first time the centralised approach has been taken in the history of the State. Deputies are aware of the difficulties with which these bodies had been dealing with the major increase in numbers applying for student grants in recent years. The new facility automates and replaces the previous manual application arrangements with a centralised online system application for all new grant applications nationwide from this academic year onwards. The system has been designed in such a way as to guide students interactively through the application process. Under the old system, the majority of third level students were paid by cheque, a costly and inefficient way of making payments. Under SUSI, students will be paid monthly directly into their bank accounts. This leads to all SUSI grant applicants in an institution receiving payments in the same way, by electronic funds transfer.

SUSI has received in excess of 66,000 completed applications for student grants this year. Some 18,000 applications are complete, including 9,000 applications that have been refused and 9,000 applications that have been awarded or awarded pending submission of final course details by the student. In addition, SUSI is awaiting documentation from students for 21,000 applications. The remaining 27,000 applications are on hand for processing. SUSI is aiming to award and pay all successful applicants before the end of December, which represents a significant improvement on the previous system in many parts of the country. To date, some 6,528 new students have been awarded maintenance or fees only grants. A maintenance grant has been awarded to 2,190 students, and some 3,729 students are awaiting a maintenance payment. The payment of the student grant is contingent on the supply of bank account details by the student, together with confirmation of registration from the institution attended. Payments for new students commenced on 19 October, and SUSI will continue to run weekly payments during November to ensure students receive their first payments as soon as possible. It is inevitable that a late rush of applications will cause delays in a student grant processing system and the subsequent payment of student grants. My Department is continuing to monitor the situation in close consultation with SUSI, which is working with the Union of Students in Ireland to encourage students to submit outstanding documentation. SUSI is also constantly seeking to improve the information available online and from its helpdesk, e-mail and telephone services.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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I welcome the statement by the Minister of State that SUSI intends to have all payments finished by December. It is a positive note and one in which people can have confidence. I ask that the Minister of State gives an assurance that the December deadline will be adhered to and monitored to ensure SUSI is on course. Some 27,000 applications still on hand amounts to 40% of all applications that have not yet been touched. From what I am hearing, it takes a long time for people to be asked for further information. I understand the system is new and has teething difficulties, but people are experiencing major difficulties and it is imperative we stick to the deadline of having every payment completed by Christmas.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response, which he made in a calm manner. No amount of sweet talking will change the reality students are facing. The Minister of State outlined that 18,000 decisions have been made on the 66,000 applications, with 9,000 refused and 9,000 people informed that the grants they applied for will be paid. Not all of the 9,000 have been paid. I resent how the Minister of State is trying to put the blame on students. He told us that 21,000 of the remainder are awaiting documentation. I put it to the Minister of State that it is not the fault of the students. The system set up by the Minister of State and the Minister for Education and Skills is unable to deal with the job it has been given. In many cases, students were not informed until very recently of the additional documentation required. What is the Minister of State saying about the rest, apart from the 21,000 awaiting documentation? All that is happening is that the applications are being checked. The Minister of State expects 40% of them to be sent back to students because of incomplete documentation. That tells us it is not the students' fault but the fault of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, who is nowhere to be found as the problem is turning into a crisis.

Deputy Nolan and I are being told the applications may be processed by Christmas. How will the applications be processed by Christmas if the Minister of State is expecting 40% of those yet to be checked will be sent back? This is a mess and the feeble response from the Minister of State and the response of the senior Minister, going hiding, gives me little confidence the problem will be sorted out. The Minister of State should sit down with the senior Minister and get this under control as quickly as possible. Students are scraping by in college and their futures in college are in jeopardy because of the way the Government has handled this. I hope for a stronger response and a plan to get grants to students as quickly as possible.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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SUSI is awaiting documentation on 21,000 applications. Some 15,000 students have not responded to requests for documentation and a further 6,000 have submitted incomplete documentation. I acknowledge the remaining 27,000 applications are on hand for processing-----

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister will send back 40%.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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No amount of rhetorical flourish, rhetoric or nonsense from a Fianna Fáil Deputy will change the fact that SUSI has the administrative responsibility for the area.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Is it nonsense? It would suit the Minister of State better to sort out the problem.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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There was broad political support for the idea of having one centralised system because of the lag times, which were even later within the 66 local authorities heretofore. In the first year of the roll-out of the new system, one always gets glitches-----

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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It was never as bad as it is now.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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-----but the main point is that students eligible for grants will be paid. There is no question about it. The Department brought in the USI as a stakeholder in the process to act as a moderator on www.boards.ie to engage with students through the process.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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More staff should have been brought in to deal with it.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I take the points made by the Deputies that 27,000 applications are outstanding and should be expedited. An additional 20 staff members are processing the documentation received from students, and extra staff have also been assigned to SUSI head office to work on continually improving the processes and speeding up processing times. I ask for common sense to deal with this calmly and rationally, not to seek to score political points. The system will change and, unless the Deputy opposite is saying we should unravel the system and go back to the 66 local authorities, we should continue to improve the system. That is what we are doing.