Student Grant Scheme Administration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 November 2012

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Questions (145, 146, 147, 148)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

145. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of appeals broken down on a county basis received to date by Student Universal Support Ireland for student grants; the length of time it is taking to assess and make a decision on an appeal in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49196/12]

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

146. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current waiting time for an application to the higher education grant Student Universal Support Ireland system to be processed; the current waiting time for the processing of appeals to same broken down on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49197/12]

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

147. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of student grants broken down on a county basis approved to date by the higher education grant Student Universal Support Ireland system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49198/12]

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

148. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of student grants broken down on a county basis that have yet to be approved by the higher education grant Student Universal Support Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49199/12]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

I propose to take Questions Nos. 145 to 148, inclusive, together.The following table provides a breakdown on a county basis of the status of the student grant applications received by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), the new centralised grant awarding authority. The tables includes those currently under appeal to SUSI. It gives the position for student grant applications for attendance at both further and higher education. The waiting time for processing a student grant application by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) varies, depending on a number of factors including the volume of applications received at any given time, the complexity of the grant applicants circumstances, and time taken by the applicant to submit all the required documentary evidence to enable a final decision to be made on an application. Every effort is made to ensure that students get decisions on their grant applications as soon as possible.

Appeals received by SUSI are dealt with in date order and the waiting time for decisions on appeals can vary depending on the complexity of the grant applicants circumstances which are under appeal. SUSI aims to issue determinations on appeals as promptly as possible and within the specified timeframes defined in the Student Support Act, 2011.

SUSI Applications - Processing position by County

County	Awarded	Appealed to SUSI	Cancelled/ Refused	Final Review/ Awaiting Course Acceptance	Awaiting Provisional Assessment (New Applications after closing date)	Reviewed and Supporting Documentation Requested	Total Applications
Carlow	120	14	116	130	83	488	951
Cavan	157	20	174	192	84	678	1305
Clare	208	33	213	266	109	909	1738
Cork	666	100	964	809	642	3565	6746
Donegal	397	38	334	445	158	1466	2838
Dublin	1187	183	2205	1539	1294	7264	13672
Galway	461	72	534	541	351	2374	4333
Kerry	258	42	316	335	201	1293	2445
Kildare	284	46	465	303	180	1388	2666
Kilkenny	150	17	178	168	99	763	1375
Laois	126	17	138	128	70	555	1034
Leitrim	67	10	75	88	36	356	632
Limerick	295	36	381	347	231	1512	2802
Longford	80	5	93	87	53	430	748
Louth	245	48	249	255	213	1088	2098
Mayo	263	23	297	363	194	1294	2434
Meath	263	37	341	309	179	1254	2383
Monaghan	123	21	144	151	57	598	1094
Offaly	173	22	176	162	53	628	1214
Roscommon	141	17	146	167	66	617	1154
Sligo	100	15	156	136	103	670	1180
Tipperary	291	48	366	334	160	1419	2618
Waterford	217	25	312	250	112	974	1890
Westmeath	219	29	254	229	75	840	1646
Wexford	323	43	331	318	123	1176	2314
Wicklow	220	37	313	204	124	1017	1915
Outside of Ireland	27	10	109	45	56	266	513
Sub Total	*7061	1008	9380	** 8301	5106	***34882	65738
Submitted online not yet downloaded	-	-	-	-	-	-	382
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	66120

* This figure does not include some 2,000 applications which have been awarded pending submission of final course details by the student

** This figure includes some 2,000 applications which have been awarded pending submission of final course details by the student.

*** This figure includes some 21,000 applications for which SUSI is awaiting documentation and some 15,000 on hand with SUSI which are being checked to ensure all documentation submitted is complete