Students are being forced to drop out of college - O' Súilleabháin

A North Wexford teacher and spokesperson for Gorey Sinn Féin has slated the government's failure to intervene in the ongoing SUSI fiasco which is causing students to drop out of college because they have not yet received their grants. Fionntán O' Súilleabháin said that 52,430 student applications were still awaiting processing through the online SUSI system.

Mr O' Súilleabháin said;

"An estimated 40% of all third level students receive grants. This year they were encouraged to apply through the new SUSI online application system that had been established by the Department of Education. Despite the apparent handiness of such a system, SUSI has been a complete disaster and has left over fifty thousand students still awaiting payments of grants."

"Many students are now being forced to reconsider their future as they do not have the economic freedom to continue with their education. 52,430 students have been left without payment. How many will drop out before Minister Quinn takes any action?"

"The government has pledged the importance of education to the future economic prospects of this state. It is a pity that they have failed so many students so spectacularly with the blotched SUSI system and their total lack of action to rectify the situation. The backlog of thousands of unprocessed applications, the apparent lack of training for staff and the difficulties in getting answers when contacting SUSI are problems that Minister Quinn must address immediately."