John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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384. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to request that Student Universal Support Ireland reverses the recent decision to employ a company (details supplied) to calculate the distance between home and college for students applying for college grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24457/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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A number of measures were recently introduced by SUSI that are intended to improve the student's experience, by making the process more transparent. One of these measures is the introduction of Eircode as part of the online application form.

The use of Eircode has improved processing times for students by allowing SUSI to more quickly identify the location of a student's home. However, the actual method of calculating the distance from a student's home to college has not changed from previous years.

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 the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board.