2,200 students still awaiting grants

More the 2,200 students are still awaiting grants as the college year ends because of problems with the Susi processing system.

Fianna Fáil education spokesperson Charlie McConalogue branded the situation unacceptable this close to end of the college year.

Some 1,932 students are in dispute with Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) over documentation supplied, while the grant applications for 328 students have still not been processed at all, latest figures show.

Mr McConalogue said students had dropped out of third-level education completely because of the backlog.

“The college year is nearly over so it is unacceptable that there are still thousands of students still waiting for a grant to support them through an academic year that is coming to a close.

“Thousands more students from low-income families have only received their grants in the last number of weeks, having spent the first few months of college without the financial support they needed.

“Some were waiting so long that they were forced to drop out of third-level education altogether. Others faced difficulties in accessing college facilities.”

The Fianna Fáil education spokesperson said the figures released via a parliamentary answer showed the situation remains a “shambles”.

“Susi has also sought to blame over 1,900 for ‘incomplete’ documentation — even though there are countless cases of students in dispute with Susi over missing documentation. Many students have been unable to contact Susi to get answers, or they have been told Susi ‘never received’ documents they sent, or that certain documentation was lost.

“This new centralised grant system was supposed to be more efficient and eradicate any delays in getting grants to the students who need them most. The exact opposite has happened,” Mr McConalogue said.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said some 37,936 students have been paid their maintenance or have had their entitlement to fees confirmed where awarded a “fees only” grant.