Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2016
250. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills if extra staff are being brought into the Student Universal Support Ireland offices in 2016 to deal with the application process; if he envisages a backlog; how long applicants will be waiting on applications to be processed; when it is likely grants will be paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20651/16]
View answerThe Student Grant Scheme for 2016 opened on the 7th of April, more than two weeks earlier than last year. SUSI is expecting to receive more than 110,000 applications for the 2016/17 academic year. To date it has received 87,000 applications and provisionally awarded grants to 41,000 students. All applications received by SUSI by the priority closing date of Friday 8th July will be prioritised by the SUSI assessment teams.
The earlier opening date has led to earlier decisions for those students who have already submitted their applications to SUSI. Changes introduced last year now provide for the possibility for students to receive their first maintenance payment in September, provided that they submit their applications on time.
These changes have also ensured that students who apply to SUSI before the published priority application closing dates can receive decisions on their grant applications as early as possible before they go or return to college and, in an increasing number of cases this year, many students are receiving grant application decisions before they finalise their CAO choices or accept an offer of a college place.
It is not possible to specify the exact processing time for each application. Individual applications will be subject to different processing timeframes depending on their complexity and the time at which they are submitted by students relative to the published SUSI closing dates. It is important that all of the required documentary evidence must be submitted complete and on time to enable a final decision to be made on an application.
SUSI deploys a flexible staffing model and implements detailed workforce planning to meet the highly seasonal requirements of the annual grant application processing cycle.
While SUSI provides decisions on grant eligibility for students at the earliest possible time after an application is received, payment in respect of an awarded grant can only be made when a student has taken up their place in college, when their registration and attendance on their course has been confirmed to SUSI by the college and as soon as the student submits his/her bank details through the online SUSI account.
Students who have yet to submit their applications, should visit SUSI's website (www.susi.ie) where they can access information on the eligibility criteria for student grant funding.
For students who have already submitted their application, they can check the status of their application through the online tracker that is available on the SUSI website.
