John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for selecting this issue which I have been attempting to raise for the past couple of weeks. I have also been looking for clarification from SUSI. It would be opportune for these issues to be clarified now and guarantees to be given that parents and students will not face the frustration and trauma they experienced last year. It was understandable there would be some teething problems, but, as time passed, what happened was much worse than that.

The reason I would like clarity and certainty is that in the next few weeks students will sit the leaving certificate examination. Once the examinations are over, the focus will switch to results, college places and, in particular, grant applications and whether they will be successful. We cannot have a repeat of the situation last year where the same documents were requested a number of times, even though on many occasions they were sent by registered post and signed for by SUSI. The dysfunctional nature of the process was illustrated to me by the following case. Two children in one family applied for a grant. The same documents, the same income limits, etc. applied, but one member of the family was given a grant, while the other was refused.

I understand new procedures are being put in place, including bringing forward the date when applications can be made and links with the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Education and Skills and Revenue to cut down on the amount of documentation required. I also note there is to be a revised document management process and that a tracking system, for which I called last year, is to be put in place under which a student can check his or her application online, as one would with a passport. I would very much welcome it if these procedures were put in place. The Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, can clarify this and provide details of a clear plan for SUSI to inform all stakeholders, including parents, students, public representatives and the media.

Last year SUSI outsourced some of functions and this led to further confusion and loss of documentation. Scanned documents were not acceptable last year. I welcome attempts to correct the situation, but students and parents need to be sure SUSI will work.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. Up to 2011, students applied to their local authority or VEC for their grants. Some 66 grant awarding authorities were involved, all using a variety of application, assessment and payment processes. SUSI replaces all of these with a centralised and online system of application. While there were problems in the first year of the new system, the policy decision was correct, that the establishment of a single grant awarding body would serve our students better in the long run.

City of Dublin VEC commissioned an external review of SUSI which was carried out by Accenture and published last Friday. I welcome this review and fully support its recommendations, implementation of which has commenced. Applications opened this week for the coming academic year and I am pleased to say extra resources have been sanctioned to ensure SUSI will have additional staff to meet the needs of new applicants. I am informed by SUSI that, in preparation for the 2013-14 academic year, the online application and assessment processes are being further developed to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency and to respond to the experiences from year one.

For applicants going to or returning to college for the 2013-14 academic year, a number of new initiatives will make their application to SUSI more efficient this year. The initiatives include direct information sharing between SUSI and Government bodies and agencies, including the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social Protection, the General Register Office and the Central Applications Office. These links will reduce significantly the number of documents required.

In addition to these developments, core staff are now on site. These trained and experienced staff are cross-functional and a number of them are now fully proficient in specialist areas such as analysis of income from self-employment, nationality issues and appeals. There is a revised document management process in place and also a new tracking system is being developed which will allow students to follow the progress of their applications online. This will reduce the requirement for students to contact the SUSI helpdesk for updates on the status of their applications.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State's clarification of some of the issues I raised, in particular the tracking system and the direct link with Revenue and the Department of Social Protection. In terms of the link with Revenue and the Department of Social Protection, will he clarify whether there is an issue of data protection and whether it will cause problems? Referring back to the problems of last year, have all the grants for the last academic year been paid as of now, even though it is 21 May? My information up to a couple of weeks ago was that there were still some outstanding.

How many appeals were in the system this year? My information is that some oral appeals took place. How many of those appeals were successful? I refer to both the written appeals and the oral appeals. It is hugely important that grants do not have to be paid out in March and April of next year. I would like the Minister of State to answer my questions regarding the last academic year.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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We all accept that there were problems. They are now being addressed. Substantial progress has been made in dealing with outstanding applications. There were problems with the new grant-awarding system in its first year. SUSI has made substantial progress. Some 99.5% of applications are now complete. The final 447 cases, most of which are awaiting final elements of documentation from students, are expected to be closed out in the coming weeks. I will ensure the other questions raised by the Deputy are brought to the attention of the Minister's office for direct reply.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State.