Agency hires staff to tackle student grant delay

Additional staff have had to be brought in as fewer than 700 students have been paid their grants so far by the new agency which Education Minster Ruairi Quinn had said would speed up the application process.

Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) has received 65,335 applications and more than 50,000 families were asked to submit income documents to progress their cases.

But just 663 students have so far received their first grant instalment and another 1,020 will be paid today, SUSI said.