Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014
1426. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the application process in respect of payment of Student Universal Support Ireland grants (details supplied); her plans to reform this process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34622/14]
View answerI understand from SUSI that for the 2014/15 academic year it is currently in the awarding phase of the application process.
The initial phase, which was to assess all applications submitted to SUSI before the August 1st deadline, was completed at the beginning of September. Payments to students for the 2014/15 academic year are due to commence in October 2014. SUSI must receive confirmation from the relevant institutions that students are registered on their course prior to being approved for payment. SUSI have issued award letters to thousands of students to date and will continue to do so throughout the coming weeks.
While it has to be acknowledged that Student Universal Support Ireland, (SUSI) the new single awarding authority had problems its first year of administration, the establishment of a single grant awarding body will serve our students better in the longer term and there are no plans at present to reform this process.
SUSI made significant improvements to its systems and procedures to streamline the grant application, processing and payment processes in 2013/14.
CDETB is focusing on continual improvement of service delivery, particularly in relation to process and systems in operation.
