Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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173. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) did not received a SUSI grant. [6729/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage the assistance of their public representatives in making enquiries about their grant applications.

This service complements the established channels provided by SUSI which include online application tracking, a dedicated website, a telephone helpdesk, email and social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Enquiries may be emailed direct to SUSI at oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.

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 within the required timeframe.

Under Section 21(2) of the Student Support Act 2011 an applicant has 30 days, from the date of the Appeals Officer’s decision in the awarding authority, to submit their appeal to the Student Grant Appeals Board (Board). Under Section 21(3) of the Act the Board may extend this period by a further 30 days if it is satisfied that the applicant has given reasonable cause to do so.

Please be advised that the Board does not have any discretion to extend the time period beyond that allowed for in the Act.