Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students currently waiting for their applications for a higher education grant to be finalised throughout the country; the number of students from County Tipperary currently waiting for their applications for a higher education grant to be finalised; if Student Universal Support Ireland has given his office an explanation as to the reason so many applicants are being asked for information that has already been submitted; the number of students that have been approved for a higher education grant currently waiting for payment to be made; if he is satisfied with the efficiency of the SUSI Office in view of the fact that many students are still awaiting a decision in January; the efforts he will make to ensure that payments are finalised without further delay; the efforts he will make to ensure that there is not a repeat of this situation next year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1018/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The following table provides a breakdown of the processing position of student grant applications received by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) on a county basis. The data provided is at a point in time on 15 January, 2013. 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.

SUSI is continuing to make payments on a weekly basis to ensure students can get paid their grant as expeditiously as possible, once they have been awarded a grant. Those awarded a grant must supply bank account details and confirmation of registration must be received from the institution in order for the first instalment to be paid.

Following initial submission of a grant application, students progressing to the next stage of the assessment process are issued with a checklist of documentary evidence which they need to provide in order to complete their application. This checklist is tailored from the specific information provided on the student's application. The checklist outlines the supporting documentation required and where this documentation can be sourced.

SUSI may, on receipt of this documentation, require further additional documents to determine eligibility. This arises for a variety of reasons. It may emerge, as a result of the documentation provided, that something was omitted from the student's initial on-line application or that further clarification on information provided is needed. In a small number of cases it may emerge that a document that is needed in support of the application was not requested at provisional assessment stage. The Deputy will appreciate that in the context of SUSI having received in excess of 67,000 applications that some errors may inevitably arise when handling a high volume of applications within a relatively short timeframe.

An external review of SUSI's business processes will be put in place in the coming weeks to inform improvements in the system for the 2013/14 academic year.

SUSI - Applications - Processing Position by County

* This figure includes some 1,134 provisionally awarded awaiting final course acceptance and some 5,897 students awarded a "fees only grant".

** This figure does not include some 1,586 students who will be paid their student grants on 18 January, 2013.