Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. I am pleased that we finally have the Student Support Bill in the Seanad. The Minister will be aware that it was first published in February 2008. I realise the Minister was not in the Department at that point. However, it is fair to say that next month the Bill will be three years old.

As the Minister pointed out, the main aim of the Bill is to make the student grant system more efficient and effective, which is altogether laudable. Students contact me about this all the time. While I welcome the Bill, the Government has made a meal out of it. This is not complicated legislation and it should have been here a long time ago.

When the Bill was first published in 2008 there were 57,000 students. As the Minister pointed out, now we have 70,000 students, 41,000 of whom are undergraduates qualifying under third level grant schemes. A significant proportion of our student population has been experiencing a great deal of difficulty, especially with delays. We are approaching the third anniversary of the publication of the Bill. Will the Minister confirm to the House that she will complete the Bill during this term?