Susi website crash sees grants deadline extended

Officials overseeing the centralised student grant system have been forced to extend the application deadline for those seeking the support after an embarrassing technical ‘crash’.

The Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) system, which has been dogged by problems and delays over the past year, will now accept applications until midnight on Monday.

The decision to extend the deadline came after the system’s website crashed for two hours on Thursday evening, preventing hundreds of last-minute applications from being lodged.

However, despite claims the problem was directly linked to a surge in 11th hour requests for help, the Department of Education said just 150-200 last-minute applications were sent — lower than in previous days.

SUSI blamed the crash on an unspecified “technical hitch”, adding that no student data had been lost as a result of the error.

However, the Union of Students in Ireland said the situation was unacceptable given a long line of errors since the centralised grant system replaced similar work conducted by 66 local authorities nationwide.

“We are quite disappointed about this. It’s just not good enough now that SUSI is in its second year. There should have been measures in place for dealing with deadline day.”

The embarrassing website crash came as Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said the series of difficulties which dogged Susi’s first year would not be repeated.

“The difficulties that occurred in the past were partially to do with the way Susi was operating and people had difficulty getting their information in, so we have tried to streamline that.

“It certainly won’t be the same Susi this year as it was last year because we have learnt a lot from it,” Mr Quinn said just hours before the latest problem to hit the system.

Since Susi was set up last summer:

- Tens of thousands of students needing financial help had to go without the support for months due to chronic delays in the system;

- Of the 70,000 people who applied to Susi for the 2012/13 academic year, 30% had yet to receive the aid by December;

- More than 500 students were still waiting for the funds by the middle of last month.

Some 80,000 people have applied for grants this year, with 10,000 more expected to send in grant applications over the coming days.

While those seeking the financial support, which is due to begin in October, can still apply for the help after Monday’s deadline, their applications will not be prioritised.

- Anyone with concerns can contact Susi directly on 0761087874 or by emailing [e-mail].