Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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116. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for the number of complaints submitted concerning the SUSI application process this year by students or parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40449/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Student Grant Scheme is administered by the centralised national grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), a business unit of CDETB (City of Dublin Education and Training Board), on behalf of the Department. As of the 17th September over 90,000 applications have been made to SUSI for the 2023/2024 academic year.

I can confirm that since 1 January 2023, SUSI has received 11 formal complaints in relation to the application process.

Student Universal Support Ireland operates a complaints procedure to facilitate applicants who may wish to lodge a complaint in connection with the manner in which they have been dealt with by the awarding authority or any of its support staff.

Formal complaints can be submitted to SUSI by emailing complaints@susi.ie. SUSI’s Complaints Team will acknowledge receipt of the complaint by email. They will then investigate the complaint and take any necessary action. The complainant will receive a response within 28 working days of receipt of the complaint.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of their complaint, they may refer the complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman or to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office if they are under the age of 18.