Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of appeals broken down on a county basis received to date by Student Universal Support Ireland for student grants; the length of time it is taking to assess and make a decision on an appeal in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49196/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current waiting time for an application to the higher education grant Student Universal Support Ireland system to be processed; the current waiting time for the processing of appeals to same broken down on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49197/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of student grants broken down on a county basis approved to date by the higher education grant Student Universal Support Ireland system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49198/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students grants broken down on a county basis that have yet to be approved by the higher education grant Student Universal Support Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49199/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 145 to 148, inclusive, together.
The following table provides a breakdown on a county basis of the status of the student grant applications received by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), the new centralised grant awarding authority. The tables includes those currently under appeal to SUSI. It gives the position for student grant applications for attendance at both further and higher education. The waiting time for processing a student grant application by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) varies, depending on a number of factors including the volume of applications received at any given time, the complexity of the grant applicants circumstances, and time taken by the applicant to submit all the required documentary evidence to enable a final decision to be made on an application. Every effort is made to ensure that students get decisions on their grant applications as soon as possible.

Appeals received by SUSI are dealt with in date order and the waiting time for decisions on appeals can vary depending on the complexity of the grant applicants circumstances which are under appeal. SUSI aims to issue determinations on appeals as promptly as possible and within the specified timeframes defined in the Student Support Act, 2011.

SUSI Applications - Processing position by County

* This figure does not include some 2,000 applications which have been awarded pending submission of final course details by the student

** This figure includes some 2,000 applications which have been awarded pending submission of final course details by the student.

*** This figure includes some 21,000 applications for which SUSI is awaiting documentation and some 15,000 on hand with SUSI which are being checked to ensure all documentation submitted is complete