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. [55004/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students broken down on a county basis that have been approved for a student grant by Student Universal Support Ireland and who have begun to receive their payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55005/12]

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. [55006/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of grants broken down on a county basis that have been refused by Student Universal Support Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55007/12]

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. [55009/12]

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. [55011/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 to 31, inclusive, 33 and 35 together.

The first table attached provides a breakdown on a county basis of the status of the student grant applications received by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). The data provided is at a point in time on 5th December 2012 . It gives the position for student grant applications for attendance at both further and higher education. This data has been provided to my Department by SUSI. The second table attached provides a breakdown on a county basis of the number of appeals received to date by SUSI.

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. Currently, SUSI has some 272 applications on hand which are awaiting provisional assessment - these are applications received after the closing date. The number of applications being processed has been increasing incrementally in recent weeks. SUSI has indicated that it is on target to progress all applications received to date with the necessary supporting documentation between now and the end of the year.

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. The county from which an appeal originates is not a factor which impacts on the waiting time for appeals.

SUSI Applications - Processing Position by County

*This figure includes some 2,650 provisionally awarded awaiting final course acceptance forms. The figure does not include grants awarded but currently under appeal status.

**This figure dies not include grants cancelled or refused that are currrently under appeal status.

***This figure includes grant applications currently under appeal status and also a number where recent decisions have been made.

#This figure includes some 25,807 applications for which SUSI is awaiting documentation and some 5,457 on hand with SUSI which are being checked to ensure all documentation submitted is complete.

##This figure includes a number of students who will be paid their student grants on the 7th December, 2012. This figure does not include some 3,193 students awarded a "fees only" grant (either the student contribution or fees) - these payments are being made directly to the relevant institution.

Appeals received to date by SUSI