Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 June 2012
173 Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if procedures are in place to deal with the large volume of applications for the new student grant scheme in view of the experiences of other centralised applications departments. [26764/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraSeveral administrative improvements have been introduced to the student grant schemes in recent years to speed up processing. These include the introduction of a single unified grant scheme in 2011 to make it easier to apply for a grant.
As the Deputy will be aware, from the 2012/13 year onwards, grants will be centrally administered by a single grant awarding authority, Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI — a division of the City of Dublin VEC), which will administer the Student Grant Scheme on behalf of my Department. A new online-only grant applications system is being introduced for the academic year 2012/13.
The student grant scheme for the 2012/13 academic year will be published onwww.studentfinance.ie in the coming weeks and students are urged to apply as early as possible for a grant. They don’t have to wait for a CAO offer. Applicants should make sure that their online application forms are properly completed and that they subsequently submit the correct supporting documentation. Late applications and incorrectly completed applications contribute significantly to delays in getting decisions.
My Department will also continue to work with the CAO, the Institute of Guidance Counsellors and USI to make sure that students apply early for grants.
In addition, the following steps have been taken to ensure that the system runs smoothly in its first year of operation:
1. SUSI will only accept new applications in its first year of operation. Renewal applications will continue to be dealt with by the existing 66 grant awarding authorities.
2. The online applications system is currently undergoing rigorous stress testing to ensure that the application process will run smoothly.
The combination of improvements introduced and control measures in place for the 2012/13 academic year should eliminate much of the delays which some students have experienced in recent years and provide sufficient capacity to handle the large volume of applications.
