Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills for introducing this important legislation. It has been long awaited by students and those bodies involved in awarding student grants. There has been much stress on the latter as more people now enter third level education. It is a positive sign when more young people plan to continue their education from second to third level rather than leaving the education system after secondary school. I welcome the wide reaching and badly needed reforms the Student Support Bill will bring to the student grants system.

There is not a September to December period which passes without us, as public representatives, obtaining an indication of the extreme upset caused by delays in processing applications or the loss of documents. Parents and those who work in public offices tend to be exposed to a much less diluted version of the type of upset to which I refer. I have spoken with many students and administrators and I am aware that there are many aspects to having one's application stuck in the processing system. Whatever the cause of the delays that occur, there is no doubt that the repercussions for students are often significant, not only in the context of their education but in terms of their physical and mental health. There can also be repercussions for their parents' physical and mental health. The Bill must be a major component in addressing the unacceptable anxiety experienced by too many young people each year.

Not all students have had a negative experience in this regard. The hard work of many of the existing grant-awarding authorities must be acknowledged. There are times when those who work for the authorities to which I refer have endured a significant level of personal abuse and felt extremely unappreciated. On Friday afternoons, I am almost scared to telephone my local council or VEC because I know that, by that stage of the week, they have probably had enough.

For the increasing number of students going through the system, grants provide a means for them to avail of further and higher education. One of the major flaws with the system which has often been brought to my attention relates to siblings in different colleges or universities. It appears that despite the technological age in which we live, it is seemingly impossible for VECs and local authorities to share information. As a result, the processing of applications submitted by those in the category to which I refer has been neither efficient nor effective. Not only have there been delays caused by one entity dealing with the relevant paperwork before transferring it to the other but in such a system, items are more likely to be lost.

One of the principal provisions in the Bill envisages the transfer of the student grants administration function from the existing 66 grant-awarding bodies to a single body. I am sure the creation of a unified grant system will give rise to a sigh of relief from many people. Such a system will be of assistance in overcoming either the technological or data protection issues which may have held centre stage heretofore. I would be interested in discovering - not only in respect of education but in the context of social welfare - the impediments with regard to data sharing. One would have thought that it would be safe to transfer people's personal information between Departments, particularly as all civil servants are obliged to ensure that all data protection criteria are met.

One is often presented with anecdotal evidence of someone's neighbour who is better off financially and whose child has obtained the grant. In other instances, one is informed about families which experience particularly difficult periods as a result of an unexpected illness, a redundancy or one parent leaving the home. It appears that the process is unable to react with requisite speed to a genuine need. I welcome the fact that the Bill makes provision for the establishment of an independent appeals board, which is hugely significant. In future, it will be possible to hold initial interviews and then external independent reviews.

It is essential that there should be consistency in how applications are dealt with, that responses to applications should be issued in a timely manner, that students should receive their payments quickly and that they should have recourse to a mechanism whereby they can, if necessary, have their applications assessed on an independent basis. When I attended the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, first year students from County Donegal used to receive the first instalment of their grant on 19 December. By that time, the Northern Irish students were approximately £3,000 in debt, but every spare can of beans, and every potato that was available in their homes in Donegal would have been stolen and brought to Jordanstown to keep the students going until they got their grant. Any outcome other than a speedy one results in hardship and frustration for students and their parents.

I do not mean to sound contradictory, but my suggestion is that within the concept of consistency there should be some level of understanding for hard cases, or at least a guide as to where a student might go in an emergency. A great deal of good work is being done by local community agencies and by those who operate student hardship funds, and so on. However, many people will be concerned that once a single, impersonal grant-awarding agency is established, the ability of staff to deal with individual cases might be undermined. It is in that context that we must be mindful that while we must treat people with consistency, people who have particular problems or if an emergency arises, should be able to be accommodated. It may seem that it might not be possible to treat everyone with consistency while making provision to deal with individual emergencies, but if enough thought is given to this matter, a solution will be found.

While moving to introduce the unified scheme this year might appear ambitious, I am heartened by the fact that preparations to facilitate this by way of regulation are already under way. I am also pleased that invitations for expressions of interest have issued in respect of the establishment of the single grant-awarding authority. This demonstrates a commitment to reform of the student grants system. That new applications only will be dealt with under the new system in 2012 will make possible the transition between the old and new systems.

It has been estimated that in 2009 approximately 170 full-time, whole-time equivalent staff across the local authority and VEC sectors were engaged in assessing applications. Some people will lose their jobs as a result of the establishment of the new authority. However, centralising matters will lead to improvements in the service to students and to savings in the Exchequer. The Croke Park agreement relates to issues of this nature, namely, streamlining systems, and so on., and making them more efficient and effective, regardless of the implications this might have in the context of redeployment.

I refer now to a matter I have raised on numerous occasions, namely, bringing forward the relevant dates so that applications to colleges and universities might be dealt with or processed at the same time as CAO and other forms. Students should only be obliged to complete forms during a particular set period before being allowed to settle back into exam mode. While certain dates were moved back in recent years - this is an important development which may, in part, have been influenced by the number of complaints I have made - there is no doubt that further action is required.

Under the current system, there is a bottleneck at the beginning of September during which a high volume of processing takes place. Many third level colleges now begin their registration procedures in early September rather than in October. While the primary aim of the new system will be to issue decisions to applicants within a guaranteed timeframe in all cases where complete applications were admitted by the closing date, surely moving back the relevant dates so that they might coincide with those which obtain in respect of applications for college courses would ensure that a great deal of the processing work required would be done well in advance of the issuing of examination results.

It should be possible for a student applying to study music at UCC, Jordanstown or Trinity to apply for his or her grant at the same time. He or she could provide as much information as possible with his or her application. I accept that he or she might not obtain enough points to be accepted for the relevant courses or that he or she might not qualify for the grant. However, if the processing were carried out earlier, people would discover whether they had been approved for grants in a much more timely fashion and there would be much less pressure on those who administer the system.

I welcome the enabling provision which creates the possibility for certain part-time courses to be included in the student grants scheme in the future, when resources permit. The Bill sets out, clearly and unequivocally, the procedures relating to the application for and the awarding of grants, the responsibilities of students, their parents and spouses, the conditions relating to grant eligibility and the residency and nationality requirements. It also indicates how the procedures relating to dealing with fraudulent claims will be strengthened.

The new online system has highlighted the potential in the context of greatly improving and simplifying the application process. I have received extremely positive feedback in that regard. The new online system can be of assistance in ensuring that accurate applications are submitted. However, it is not only technology which ensures accuracy. I spoke to those who administer the grant system at present - these individuals possess a wealth of information - and they provided me with examples of how incomplete applications and incorrectly completed applications contribute to the significant delays which occur in the processing of applications.

A simple idea was put to me in this regard and it should form a core part of their career guidance systems. As part of the career guidance nights they tend to offer in December, schools should provide an idiot's guide to how to obtain a grant. Some schools are already making information of this nature available to their students. Students should be told what they need to do in January, February, March and so on. People should be aware of the need to retain their utility bills because these will be required when grant applications are being made. As Tip O'Neill once stated, "Keep it simple, stupid".

There is evidence that the applications of students who attended schools which have already taken steps in this regard are being processed much more speedily. When people know what they are supposed to have and when they are supposed to have it, their applications will be completed to a high standard and the number of errors will be minimal. There is also an argument for making the parents of first year third level students aware of the need to put some money aside, where possible, so that they might cope with the relevant costs that arise each September or October and will not be obliged to shoulder any excessive burdens.

At present, students apply for the courses they wish to pursue and are enthusiastic with regard to this aspect of the process. They then get into exam mode and have some inkling that they might need the grant. However, applying for a grant does not give rise to the same level of excitement or urgency that obtains when one awaits one's exam results. Suddenly, it is the middle of September and the person does not know whether they have got the grant because they may not have been speedy in submitting the application or it may not have been processed in time. They arrive at the college and are asked for the registration fee but they have not heard of that previously because they have not done the pre-emptive work. They have got their accommodation but then they realise they must have hundreds of euro ready for the deposit. The parents are then landed with a huge bill they had not anticipated because their focus was on the examinations.