Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in view of the delay in the administration of student grants in 2012, if he will consider reverting to the old system whereby the grants were administered through the local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56501/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The old system of student grant administration involved 66 awarding authorities - 33 local authorities and 33 VECs. This arrangement was widely acknowledged as not being an effective means of administering student grants. Maintaining a system of 66 separate grant-awarding bodies in the face of rising demand was not sustainable. While it has to be acknowledged that Student Universal Support Ireland, (SUSI) the new single awarding authority has had problems its first year of administration, I do not envisage a return to the old system. The establishment of a single grant awarding body will serve our students better in the long run.