Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of Student Universal Support Ireland grants that were paid to students in advance of the Christmas break; the number that have been paid since the 1 January 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25505/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The policy basis which informs my Department's education and training provision includes the National Skills Strategy, the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation, the Report of the Task Force on Innovation, the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work.

In addition to the wide range of cross-cutting policy structures and forums for engagement on enterprise skills needs-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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We are on Question No. 52.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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We might be on the wrong question. It is Question No. 52.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I beg the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's pardon. My apologies to the House.

I understand from Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, that, as at close of business on 30 December 2012, some 26,419 applications had been awarded or provisionally awarded. Of these, some 19,779 students were paid maintenance or had their entitlement to fees confirmed - where they were awarded a fees-only grant.

As at close of business on 26 May 2013, some 39,273 applications have been awarded or provisionally awarded. Of these, 38,627 students have been paid maintenance or had their entitlement to fees confirmed.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for the reply. My party put down this question to ascertain the exact position in terms of how many students had to wait until after Christmas to receive their grant. What we see from the reply is that over half of students were paid their grant after 1 January this year. This is something we dealt with in a previous question as well but it highlights the hardship many of those students had to endure while they were waiting on it.

The recent SUSI review indicated that there were severe strains on SUSI management in terms of getting the staff it needed to be able to deal with applications as they came in. It is crucial. The Minister indicated that he will do whatever he can to ensure that does not happen this year.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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We will have a much better experience this year in the operation of the SUSI organisation. We all have learnt from the challenges that were posed during the course of last year. We have now got the assent from the Data Protection Commissioner and others to share information between different Government agencies which will speed up the process more effectively. I will keep a close monitoring eye on this to ensure that any problems that arise will be dealt with. Three extra senior management staff have been made available and up to, effectively, an additional 23 whole-time equivalent posts have been made available to deal with peak times when applications require an increase in human resources.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the changes which, hopefully, will be brought about in the SUSI system. I would suggest the following issue that could be addressed at an early stage. During this debacle, there was much criticism made of students not completing forms or supplying the correct documentation. It was an excuse in many cases. I suggest that during late August and early September there be a campaign aimed directly at the students, for example, through the students' union, to try to ensure that all of the documentation is in place at an early stage so that there is not any delay or it cannot be used as a delaying factor if they have provided the proper documentation.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh. SUSI is bringing forward its timetable of operations. It is intended that SUSI will open for business sooner. In fact, I understand, subject to confirmation, a website is going live tomorrow and that SUSI would hope that 1 August, rather than 31 August, will be the closing date for applications so that students will have applied and submitted their application before the end of July. That, plus the streamlining of the sharing of information between Government agencies will, we hope, have the desired effect.

This has never been done previously in this country. We have learnt many lessons from last year. We have been up-front in accepting that it did not work to our, let alone the students', satisfaction. I believe we have a formula that will significantly improve the experience of students. I will inform all of the student union bodies and the relevant authorities so that we will maximise public awareness of the system.