Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 June 2022
689. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if SUSI attempts to recoup payments in instances in which further and higher institutions have received fee grants by SUSI from overpayments; if so, the amount of overpayment in fee grants identified by SUSI in 2019, 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022; and the amount recouped for these years. [34592/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe complex nature of the student grant scheme means that there is a risk that some students receive grant payments for which they are not eligible, including for reasons beyond the direct control of SUSI. This can also result in some instances in fee grants being paid to institutions on behalf of students.
To mitigate the risk of over payments, SUSI implements procedural and system-based controls within its application assessment and grant payment operations. A highly developed quality assurance programme is implemented within the assessment process and a focused programme of independent post-assessment reviews are also performed across targeted risk areas.
The critical objective for SUSI is to identify and rectify errors on a timely basis before a grant is awarded and thus before any over payment can arise. Issues identified from quality and post-assessment reviews are fed back into the assessment process through feedback and training on a current basis.
The following table illustrates the amount of over payments in fee grants identified by SUSI in 2019, 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022.
|
Academic Year |
Instances |
Fees Overpaid |
Fees Recouped (from colleges) |
|
2018/19 |
198 |
€336,853.89 |
€315,694.54 |
|
2019/20 |
141 |
€261,579.89 |
€258,579.89 |
|
2020/21 |
204 |
€310,418.51 |
€310,418.51 |
|
2021/22 |
1* |
€3,000.00* |
€3,000.00* |
*Data for current academic year (2021/22) may change as processing is ongoing.
