Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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344. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he will take in view of the fact that due to SUSI having introduced a system whereby Eircode postcodes are used instead of a programme (details supplied) to calculate the distance a person lives from a third level institution, some previously eligible persons have now been rendered ineligible for a non adjacent grant. [19802/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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SUSI has progressively introduced a number of measures that are intended to make the Student Grant Scheme more efficient for students. One of these measures is the introduction of Eircode which has helped to reduce processing times for applicants.

However, the actual calculation of distance from a student's home to college has not changed from previous years, and SUSI continues to use google maps to calculate distance.

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 on-line appeal outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant via outlining the position to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board within the required timeframe.