I wish to discuss one matter in public session. It concerns the non-enactment of the Bill to date. The clerk to the committee has checked with the Department of Education and Science, but for some reason, there are still obscure, outstanding legal issues which explain why Committee Stage has not been taken. As I assume members wish to invite representatives of USI to come before the committee, I will propose a date for such a meeting in due course. The two lead Opposition spokespersons want to comment on the matter now.
Business of Joint Committee.
I thank the Chairman for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue. On behalf of the joint committee, the Chairman must immediately correspond with the Department of Education and Science to discover why the Bill has not yet been brought before the committee on Committee Stage, a year and a half after the conclusion of Second Stage. I have just concluded a survey of four local authorities and VECs and discovered that the average delay in processing grant applications is four months. We are talking about students who applied for a grant at the end of August but they have not received any payment in respect of their maintenance grant. The numbers applying for a grant have radically increased because of the problems with the economy but staff numbers in VECs and local authorities are not adequate to cope with this increase. I am aware of one case in which a local authority office is open from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 800 applications have yet to be looked at by officials. We must take responsibility in this matter. The Department initiated the Bill. Second Stage has concluded but the Bill has yet to be brought before us on Committee Stage. We must take the initiative on behalf of students, some of whom have no money and will drop out of college if they do not receive their payment soon.
In my time in the Oireachtas I cannot recall a time when it took 18 months from completion of Second Stage of a Bill to produce amendments for Committee Stage. The Bill in question is not very complex. I hesitate to suggest we are being misled as to why it has taken so long. The idea that it requires 18 months to draft a series of amendments to an innocuous Bill is a little like saying students will have to repeat an exam twice before they can be given their marks. If there is a problem with cash flow, we should be told in order that students can make arrangements. It is wrong to suggest there are technical or legal problems as cover for a failure to provide grants for students who, as Deputy Hayes said, face the prospect of having to drop out of college. If they had a clear indication from the Department of Education and Science that money would be made available this would enable them in turn to go to a credit union or to a finance house to get a temporary loan. We should convey this message very strongly to the Department of Education and Science.
As Chairman of this committee I share the Deputy's concerns. I have also received correspondence from USI, Union of Students in Ireland, regarding the difficulties being experienced by students. If it is agreed by this committee, a strongly worded letter will be sent by the clerk in my name to the Department and to the Minister, outlining the concerns regarding the Student Support Services Bill, and asking for a detailed written response regarding the nature of the legal issues delaying the introduction of the Committee Stage of the Bill. Given there is a vacant slot on 3 December, I suggest we invite USI to attend on that day as this is an important and pressing issue and the union should be allowed give evidence before the committee as to the effects on students across the country of the non-implementation of this Bill. Is that agreed? Agreed.