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EDUCATION MINISTER Ruairí Quinn has admitted that the government “got it wrong” in the way the student grants system was managed last year – but says he believes the Department of Education is fixing the mistakes made last year.
Quinn told the Dáil today that a comprehensive report into the failings at Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, had identified a number of significant shortcomings in the way that grant applications were processed last year.
“Did we get it wrong? Yes, we got it collectively wrong. Are we fixing it? I believe we are,” Quinn said this afternoon.
He added:
We have it right now but I will not take my eye off the ball this year because of the reasons which the Deputy [FF's Charlie McConalogue] brought to my attention last year.
19,494 students who applied to SUSI for grants for the 2012-13 did not receive their first payment until into the New Year, while 2,200 applicants were still awaiting a final decision on their grant application as the college year ended.
The delays in processing grant applications led to some students’ unions putting together food baskets for some members, whose cash difficulties left them struggling to afford food.
SUSI’s workload is set to be even bigger next year, as its responsibility expands: for 2012-13 the body, managed by the City of Dublin VEC, was responsible only for applications from students in the first year of their course. Next year, it will cater to existing applicants as well as new First Years.
Quinn said procedures were being put in place to allow SUSI to share information with the the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social Protection, the General Register Office and the Central Applications Office.
This would minimise the number of sources which students had to approach to collect the data needed for their grant applications, he said, and therefore minimise the difficulty that students would have in submitting data.
McConalogue welcomed the admission that the system had not been up to standard.
“The recently published review of SUSI identified a delay in allocating the agreed number of staff as a problem which contributed to the delays. It is imperative that Minister Quinn ensures this is not repeated this year,” he said.
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JOKE..
I was one of the students who only got my fees awarded on the 10th of may i finished college on the 20th. I applied for my fees in september but was told on previous occasions certain forms were not received by SUSI lies…. I had photocopied all the documentation before i sent them . I was then refused as SUSI chose to tell me my course was not a recognised course even tho I had sent off registered stamped letters from A.I.T , they had no clue of what they were at. Finally after 8 months of hardship stress worry thinking that I will not be able to sit my exams and sending off forms over and over again I was granted my fees . Sort out the system because it is terrible.
Bet you knew deep down that they were purposely making it difficult. Where’s all the civil service whistleblowers?
We got it wrong – but I won’t apologise for the suffering and stress caused to students up and down the country for my incompetence.
If that’s the case they get it wrong every year.
If it happened in the private sector it would be game over. Why should hard pressed students have to wait months and months until those goons get their act together? Quinn has spent more time criticising others, pursuing his own agenda and commissioning reports than actually doing his job. This is NOT rocket science.
What private enterprise would pay money to a load of teenagers to sit around watching day-time television? Why does everyone think private companies are so infallible? Look at the horse meat scandal.
Admin functions like this can be outsourced to the private sector and in the event of massive delays like we saw from SUSI another company could be awarded the contract, the contract itself could contain a clause allowing for a fine that would allow students to be compensated.
The very fact that you would tar students as lazy, who lived well below the breadline this year proves your ignorance on this issue. Teenagers aren’t the only people trying to put themselves through education – mature students like myself were affected by this disgrace this year. The grant isn’t half enough as it is. Let alone not getting it until after christmas.
Ben, speaking as someone that was a mature student and got the grant I can say it was enough. How much do you want to be paid to go to third level education? You more than likely didn’t even have to pay your own fees.
My heart bleeds for you. I’m living the dream working sixty hour weeks, paying a sky high mortgage and putting three children through school. I hope they don’t intend to spend the rest of their life’s there like some bums who are afraid to work and expect a free ride even as adults.
People are ignoring that part of this was outsourced to a private company – Abtran.
Great to hear John that you won’t be applying for the grant for your kids when (if) they get to college seeing as you are so against it. That’s three applications less they’ll have to worry about.
Banks and creches ain’t doing the private sector justice tonight
There were no dept inspections of many crèches for 4 years, same with the banks – poor or no regulation.
that comment sums up Whats wrong With ireland.
and They Now have the contract for the Local property tax Right?
@Conor. I’m not against most people going to college, just middle aged bums who don’t want to work. What’s the difference between an adult going to college and living off grants and someone on the dole? P.s. When my children attend college I’ll pay for them. I’ll let the middle aged hippies waste the grants on themselves.
I might be wrong on this, but wasn’t SUSI outsourced to ALTRAN?
Ya right John. When the time comes for your kids to head off to college you will be applying for the grant, stop kidding yourself.
I am a mature student getting the grant, I wouldn’t be able to go to college otherwise. I (like thousands of others) was made redundant after 18 years of work, I worked my way up in the company to management level, but could not get a job because I didn’t have that piece of paper. That’s why I’m in college, just finished level 6, trying to get job but now they want level 8. SUSI was very slow, left hand didn’t seem to know what right hand was doing.
how heavy is that chip on your shoulder john cos if thats the kind of attitude you have and will pass to your kids there in for a reality check when they hit the real world
A country of no accountability, what a surprise!
So do you want to tax the rich to give more education bureaucrats your money?
no responsibility for his departments mistakes, What does he get paid for?
Report card for Mr.Quinn C-
Piss off Ruairi.
Shame on him
Not the kind of thing you want to admit when you are trying to overhaul the state exams without taking any notice of those of us working at the coal face.
If we had a proper integrated citizen information database using ID cards, you wouldn’t need to apply for a grant in the first place. If entitled, you’d just receive it. This is simple stuff, and done in the commercial world all the time.
Is that not a bit Orwellian?
Resign then u muppet
Quinn is so keen on being seen as a “reforming” minister that massive changes are being brought in without proper consultation or preparation. Just wait for the car crash that will be the “reformed” Junior Cert.
Same with schools revamp . Susi was badly planned and executed. How many heads will roll?
Procedures being put in place to allow interdepartmental communication? ?
Jesus h christ is Ireland’s social system going to finally come into the 21st century? They’re very quick to have every possible bit of information that exists on you to hand when you owe them something but form after form, filled with the same ridiculous questions, when it’s the other way round. “Now take that form and bring it to the tax office to get it stamped and then come back to me!” No doubt to another 3hr queue. “But I gave you all that info last time I was here!” “Oh we don’t keep that on file”.
That’s from personal experience but my favourite is when, after spending the day running between different offices, I came back to the most unhelpful old woman I think I ever met. “I’ve given you all this information before, surely it’s in your system if you can find my prsi number so quickly. Would it not be so much easier for you to push a button and bring everything up in front of you?”
“No”, she said…”I wouldn’t like that system at all. I don’t like computers! ”
I kid you not people. .. that is what we are up against. And I genuinely feel sorry for any student (my brother included) going through that backward system now.
This is why government is incompetent. Yet we keep trusting them with more power and money via democracy and higher taxes.
Will we learn? No. I’m resigned to that fact.
The whole grant system is a joke anyway. Forcing students to borrow from banks at crazy interest rates to subsidise what little they get, but it wouldn’t be our government if the banks didn’t benefit in some way. Cash strapped parents having to fork out for obscene rents and even more obscene college fees, again introduced and raised, without shame, by our wonderful government.
There should be a system in place like in most other developed countries whereby anyone who attends third level education is entitled to a “student loan”, funded by the government, and repayable at low interest rates once employment is secured after the completion of the course. This ensures that everyone is guaranteed access to the same levels of education and it’s not one law for the rich, one for the poor.
But the liklihood of those muppets ever getting something functional and intelligent like that into place is unfortunately as slim as Ruari actually apologising.
So again, like the US system. Spiralling costs with the same policy.
“Come on without, come on within, you wont see nothin’ like the mighty Quinn” or even “Wake up little Suzie, wake up”. What a plonker!
And that’s the problem Quinn. This bucking WE when there’s a buck up… You and YOU alone….. You bucked up…
But as a member of “labour” he reserves the right to redefine the shape of the ball as he stares at it.
What Ireland needs is a reliable student loan system. People have such a sense of entitlement these days, expecting the government to pay for everything for them and complaining when payments are cut or delayed. If students could avail of loans which they could pay back when they start earning then nobody in the country would have a reason to complain about not being able to afford college.
Like they have in the US?
I say the grant system stays but if you fail a year you have to repay the money.
Boyfriend is an NCHD. He did medicine as a graduate student. He started working life with a debt of €125k. At the end of year 1 he hasn’t been able to make one single repayment off the capital amount, and it’s looking likely that he won’t be able to for year 2 either.
Is that what you want? To saddle everyone with inordinate debt? Quite literally stall the economy?
I was mainly talking about undergraduates. The fees for undergraduates are already heavily subsidised and would not be anywhere near as much as 125K. If students had to take out loans instead of being handed a grant or having their parents pay (I’m sure plenty students pay their own way too and I’m just taking about those that can’t afford to do that) then they would be less likely to drop out as they would not want to see their investment wasted. It would increase responsibility among students instead of giving them a free ride and it would also ease pressure on parents of people who aren’t entitled to grants but are still struggling to pay for college.
So after the rare event of a government minister admitting that he and his department f****d up everybody still posts intelligent comments like “Piss off Ruairi”. And as for outsourcing to the private sector, would you want confidential information held by state authorities handed over to a private sector company? I can only imagine the comments that would generate when information inevitably leaked out about individuals,
D-
Hey ruarai ,
Tell your brother to stop over producing electricity by 12 % ; it’s a Massive waste; and get him to cut the price of same there’s a good lad ; isn’t that how it works, centralise power and then you get to hand out the sweeties ; sure didn’t the European of the year lobby for constituents to the old SUSI ! LOBBY LOBBY !
But but but “tax the rich fair share” — where does this money go?
Fixing it?? He’s retained 29 out of the 100 staff from last year’s fiasco-how the hell are they supposed to cope with all the applications if 100 people couldnt? Bloody ridiculous.
So the minister is admitting the old system was better
Reform is bandied about like it is panacea for everything
What did they think was going to happen? ‘Overhaul’ the system… They have dismantled the education system piece by piece and SUSI is just one of the outcomes that has surfaced… Rory Quinn and the government can not keep removing bricks from the wall… The system is failing… For all the public angry regarding teachers, lecturers and pampered civil servants… If you keep reducing the staff numbers the system will fail… And for what?? So mr. Quinn a used to be a labour man… Can retire on a huge pension and remain one of the elite while the rest of us struggle…
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