Collins: Govt must use experienced VEC staff to process grants

Joan Collins of the United Left Alliance has called on the Government to bring in VEC staff with experience in processing students grants to clear the backlog in third-level grant applications.

Collins: Govt must use experienced VEC staff to process grants

Joan Collins of the United Left Alliance has called on the Government to bring in VEC staff with experience in processing students grants to clear the backlog in third-level grant applications.

The new system SUSI - or Student Universal Support Ireland - won a contract to process applications for new college entrants this year.

However, just over 3,000 applications have actually been paid, with tens of thousands more still to be processed.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that dozens of extra staff should see all successful grant applications paid by the end of next month.

However, Ms Collins said the SUSI grant processing system is failing.

She said: "With only 18,000 grants paid out of almost 66,000 applications, many students are in a crisis.

"Those who have not had their grants processed cannot use college facilities, including libraries and other essential services. If they have to wait until after Christmas for the money they need to live and for access to college facilities, many will drop out.

"In order to alleviate the immediate crisis facing students due to the failure of the SUSI system, the Minister for Education should ensure that Student Welfare services have sufficient funds to ensure that students can get enough to eat while waiting for their grants to come through.

She also urged the Minister to immediately give students access to college facilities.

"There should be SUSI reps put on campuses so that students can find out where they are in the application process," she said.

Ms Collins called for the immediate secondment of experienced staff.

She said: "The recruitment of an extra 20 staff to SUSI shows that it was understaffed from the outset, as does the extra 20 being recruited to the private administration firm. Staff from the VECs with experience in processing students grants should be immediately seconded to SUSI to process all outstanding grant applications before Christmas."

United Left Alliance Deputy, Clare Daly said: "The propositions being put forward by SUSI to clear the backlog at their best estimate would still leave thousands if not over 10,000 students without a grant after Christmas.

"It is clear from the significant level of representations that we receive that many students and their parents are on a knife edge on this issue, experiencing enormous stress and hardship as a result of the debacle in the situation, borrowing money, not being able to access library facilities, not being able to hand in projects and grappling with all of this strain at a time when they should be concentrating on their Education.

"This is simply unacceptable,". Deputy Daly said.

Ms Daly called for a full investigation into the debacle.

She said: "This changeover system was anticipated for years. The scale of grant applications was understood. It is appalling that simple measures such as linking up with information for Revenue, Social Protection and so on were not set up in advance of the new system being put in place.

"It is clear that urgent steps need to be taken to address this situation now."

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