Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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196. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of times a student may appeal a Student Universal Support Ireland decision; the steps in the appeals mechanism in total; the point at which an appeal may reach him or his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52858/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The right of Appeal and the Appeals process are set out in Sections 20, 21 and 25 of the Student Support Act 2011 and Articles 40 and 41 of the Student Grant Scheme 2013. There are two steps in the appeals mechanism. If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant, or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI. Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down, in writing, by SUSI, and remains of the view that SUSI has not interpreted the scheme correctly in his/her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the Student Grants Appeals Board. The relevant appeal form is available to download from .

Officials in my Department have been informed by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) that the appeals procedure is detailed on www.susi.ie and the appeals option advised in writing to all applicants in receipt of both award and refusal letters. As the Deputy is aware there are a number of eligibility criteria that an applicant must meet to be considered for a student grant and therefore it is possible for an applicant to appeal on any or all of these grounds when they receive a SUSI decision. When an applicant appeals to SUSI on a particular eligibility grounds and that appeal is refused by SUSI the applicant then has recourse to the Student Grants Appeals Board.

SUSI has also introduced an option to Request a Review of a grant decision without going through the formal appeals process and full details of this option are published on www.susi.ie. If the applicant is not happy with the outcome of the review he/she can then avail of the appeals process.