I support the call for grants to be issued to students more quickly. The delay in processing grant applications beggars belief. Thousands of students throughout the country have been waiting for so long that such delays are unacceptable. I listened to the SUSI spokesperson say this morning that 20,350 applications have been approved but only 3,010 students, 5% of those who applied, have been paid. Students and families are encountering hardship.

We have had delays in the past - we have had 32 concerns dealing with applications prior to this. Surely before issuing or accepting a tender from a single VEC all aspects should have been thoroughly covered to establish what could and could not be done. The VEC has now outsourced this to a private company. Was it involved in the tendering process? Did it envisage the number of applications? It is unacceptable that students waiting for their applications to be processed telephoned only to find that the application had not been received and they were asked to submit a second one. Where am I going as a Senator?

Is the Senator seeking a debate?

I want the Minister to come to the House to tell me if this is a sign of things to come for many years ahead. We appear to be going backwards.