Debate rages while students await grants

It's the end of November and the maintenance grants issue has reared its ugly head again - which means some needy students somewhere still have not received the first instalment of their grants.

Last week, in a written question to Dr Michael Woods, the Minister for Education and Science, regarding maintenance grants, Fine Gael TD Paul McGrath asked about the number of higher education and PLC grants approved and the number paid to date. He also asked if the overdue payments would be expedited because many students have not yet received their grant aid. He expects an answer today.

"It's my belief that some authorities are good for paying out and some aren't, and the students are left hanging," he told EL. McGrath firmly believes that there should be a set date that they should be paid by. "I would suggest that the October 1st is the time because with the current accommodation crisis, many students they are depending on their parents getting loans for deposits and suchlike, and they have to live for the period when they start college.

"I have proposed in the past to former ministers that there should be one centralised processing of applications per county." The current arrangement, he says, can be confusing to some applicants.

Colm Jordan, education officer of the Union of Students of Ireland (USI), which has called for a central grants authority, scoffed at the idea of one for each county, saying that would only create more levels of bureaucracy. "There has to be clearly one level, one system, where grants are administered. We have to have people dedicated to the job, where they are doing it day in day out." McGrath, however, does not think there should be one central grants authority for the State. "You need to have local contact and you need to have them responsible locally, to public representatives."

With the first instalment of the grant being issued at different dates, Jordan says, the morale in college goes down. "Students shouldn't have to ring a local authority. Students shouldn't be in a situation where they get the local touch. Students should be in a situation where they fill out a form and they get what they are due. It's very simple."

It is not so simple for some students and their families, according to higher education grants staff in a number of county councils contacted by EL. It is true that some students have not yet received their instalment because their application is still being processed. But this is because the office is waiting on further documentation. Renewal applications are usually straightforward and these generally apply to second, third and fourth-year students. First years usually account for first-time applications, and these are the ones that are often delayed, as are exam repeat students.

According to Hazel Shannon in the higher education grants office in Roscommon county council, "we cannot do anything about people not sending in the documentation. We have to wait for this documentation to come in. As long as we are waiting for it we can do nothing else with the application. People should really prepare their accounts during the summer and get all those things in order early on." Sometimes the office receives incomplete application forms. Ms Shannon says that people nearly expect to get a grant based on an application that might not even be signed.

This problem is echoed by Jack Lillis in the grants section of Waterford county council. "By in large we are waiting for confirmation of income," he says. If people want to help themselves, he said, they should have their accounts in order.

Jordan says this is a poor excuse and that although he is sure that those situations occur, he is equally sure that some students are getting lost in the administration and that "their livelihood is sitting on somebody's desk, waiting to be processed".

Some local authorities in the past would have waited until they have most of the applications processed, before sending them out in bulk. Michael O'Reilly from Wexford county council says that previously they paid everyone at the same time. Last year, after representations from local politicians unhappy about people waiting longer than necessary for their grants, a decision was made to make payments as the grants were processed. The drawback is that the office receives more queries now from students wondering why their friend received a grant and they haven't.

One local authority said they it was going to implement a mid-September cut-off date for all processing next autumn and to get as many grants as possible out by October 1st. It was pointed out there is a competition going on between grant issuing authorities to be first out with the grants.

Elizabeth Creamer, higher education grants officer with Limerick corporation, says that although complete applications were all decided on in August, they could not be sent out until the college confirmed that the students are registered. "The delays are occurring because the colleges are late sending out letters confirming registration. You can't pay a student just because they tell you they are registered in a college. They may not be registered there at all."

A special project team has been set up to carry out a comprehensive review of every aspect of the maintenance grants and other student supports. The review will include the methods by which they are paid and the most suitable paying agency. Officials from the Department of Education and Science have also been engaged with officials from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs over possible options regarding the future administration of the schemes.