Harris raises need for improved student grant system with Education Minister

Wicklow Fine Gael TD, Simon Harris has raised in the Dail the need for the Minister for Education and Skills to ensure that the student grants processing body, SUSI is adequately resourced this year so that students can receive their college grants in a timely and convenient manner.

The Minister has assured Deputy Harris that additional staff have been allocated to SUSI to deal with the processing of the grants and that this will have a significant impact on the ability of the service to fulfil expectations in an efficient manner.

In addition to these extra resources, new measures are in place to allow agencies share and verify information relating to the grant application. This will assist with the speed of the process and also reduce the burdensome number of documents required.

“I am acutely aware that students in County Wicklow experienced delays and difficulties with third level grants last year. These problems must be fixed and that is why I have been continually raising this matter with the Minister for Education. I am pleased to hear of the new measures he has put in place. I think these will greatly improve the application process for students who I know rely on these grants,” stated Deputy Harris.

“In the coming weeks I am holding a number of meetings across the county to assist students who are applying for college grants and I will do all that I can to ensure this process is straightforward for Wicklow students,” said Deputy Harris.