Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 November 2017
141. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will request SUSI to accept appeals and review requests from Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas through the Oireachtas support email address (details supplied). [47626/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage the assistance of their public representatives in making enquiries about their grant applications.
This service complements the established channels provided by SUSI which include online application tracking, a dedicated website, a telephone helpdesk, email and social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
Enquiries may be emailed direct to SUSI at oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.
It should be noted that these lines are provided for the purposes of enquiries only and cannot be used to “accept appeals and review requests” from public representatives on behalf of a student.
Section 20 of the Student Support Act 2011 allows an applicant aggrieved by a determination of an awarding authority, to make an appeal to an appeals officer in SUSI, against that determination. There is no statutory provision to allow a third party to make an appeal on behalf of an applicant.
