Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the sentiments expressed by Senator Darragh O'Brien regarding SUSI, the third level grant application computerised system which is effectively run by Dublin VEC. If SUSI is an example of what centralisation will mean in this country we have a problem because it simply does not work. Some 12% or 15% of grant applications have been dealt with. Those people who apply for grants are under financial pressure. Some 88% of students who have started first year in college, which can be a traumatic time in its own right, have applied through SUSI. The difficult and challenging experience they are having in college as they try to adjust to a new life is being compounded by what is, at this stage, a complete fiasco. Will the Leader ask the education committee to summon the chief executives of SUSI and Dublin VEC to attend, as a matter of absolute urgency, in order to find out what in hell is going on?

I refer to our discussion yesterday regarding banks. I was very troubled recently to discover that banks have taken a step backwards in dealing with families where couples are facing separation. There was a time, believe it or not, when banks did the right thing when it came to assisting couples to come up with a reasonable settlement. They facilitated moving a mortgage into a sole name in order to expedite a separation agreement. Now, however, they are not playing ball and families who are going through a difficult and challenging time as a result of marital splits and separations, and where children are involved, now find their situation is totally compounded by the incompetence of banks.

I reiterate my call for a banking inquiry. This is the only way we can unravel the absolute scandal in the banking sector in recent years and, one hopes, come up with proper procedures and protocols to ensure that the like of what happened will never occur again.