Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are just a few days away from the referendum on Saturday and we should use the opportunity today to encourage as many people as possible to come out and vote. Most Members of parties - and those of no affiliation - are supporting a "Yes" vote, believing it is very important and in the interests of our children. It is important that the turnout is high on Saturday and that there is a resounding "Yes" vote.

Will the Leader raise the issue of student support grants with the Minister for Education and Skills? There are just under 50,000 grant applications for this education year and some 46,000 have not yet been processed. Students do not know whether they will receive a student support grant. I understand the Minister has set up a hotline but it is not intended for students who might be able to telephone to ask about the position of his or her application. The hotline is for Oireachtas Members. While all of us would welcome this facility and would wish to assist students in getting word on where their grant application stands, the Minister should not restrict this hotline to Members. There should be a proper hotline which students can use to ask about their application. This is the end of the second week in November and 46,000 students still have no word on their third level student support grants.

I need not remind Members that the Minister for Education and Skills signed, on 21 February 2011, a pledge with the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, and students in general, stating he would oppose and campaign against any new form of third level fees, including student loans, graduate taxes and any further increases in student contribution. We knew that was a blatant lie at the time, and continues to be so given that this Government has stated it will increase the student registration fee to ¤3,000, having already increased it by ¤250 last year. Not only is the student registration fee being increased but now students cannot access their grant applications. It is very serious. There is a minimum of 46,000 applications pending; there has already been a very high refusal rate and the Government has also abolished postgraduate student grants.

Will the Leader schedule some time for discussing this matter? It will not be fixed in the coming week, as is patently obvious by the numbers outstanding. The Minister should attend the House and explain what is being done. Let us not forget it was the Government which decided to remove the grant application process from the local authorities in order to streamline the process. Obviously this streamlining has not worked. We need to give some certainty to our students as to when their applications will be processed. It appears to me that applications for 2012 will not even be looked at before the turn of the year. Most of us do not see that as an acceptable situation. Will the Leader ask the Minister to come to the House in the coming weeks and outline how his Department envisages working through this self-created backlog of 46,000 outstanding applications?