Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2015
538. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she has reviewed the statistics concerning numbers of students who were awarded Student Universal Support Ireland grants for 2014/2015 who had not received payments by December 2014 and January 2015; her plans to address procedures where SUSI did not allocate payment due to errors on its part. [2693/15]
View answerAs of 31 December 2014, SUSI has confirmed that a total of 70,249 applicants have been awarded their grant. Of this figure a total of 66,159 applicants have been paid their grant and 4,090 have yet to be paid. As of 14 January 2015, SUSI has confirmed that a total of 71,909 applicants have been awarded their grant. Of this figure a total of 67,443 applicants have been paid their grant and 4,466 have yet to be paid. At any one point in time, the number of students awarded a grant is likely to be somewhat higher than the number of students in receipt of a grant payment. Delays can occur while SUSI awaits confirmation from the registration files of the various institutions, bank account details from students etc. Students also have the option to defer payment of their grant. Notwithstanding the above, SUSI has confirmed that it is currently fully up-to-date with the payment of all awarded grants that can be paid.
