The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn TD, today announced that a single student grant awarding authority is to replace the existing 66 grant awarding bodies.
The new system will come into effect for the 2012/13 academic year. This landmark decision reforms a student grant system that has been in operation in the State since 1968 and it will gradually replace the existing 66 VEC and local authority grant awarding bodies.
The City of Dublin VEC will operate as the new centralised authority following a competitive process carried by an independent selection panel. Minister Quinn will formally designate the CDVEC following agreement on implementation with his Department.
The single grant authority will operate on a transitional basis. It will accept all new applications from 2012. For this year, 2011, students will still apply to their local authorities or VECs for a grant and these bodies will continue to deal with renewal of existing grants on a wind-down basis over three to four years.
Minister Quinn said he has strongly supported student calls to overhaul the student grants system and he is delighted to be able to move quickly to introduce this very significant development which was enabled by the passage of the Student Support Act earlier this year.
It also represents a concrete development in meeting the objectives set out in the action plan for the education sector on the Croke Park Agreement. More than 72,000 students are eligible for grants currently and this number is on the rise. This reform will bring about greater simplicity and efficiency for them when it comes to applying for a grant and getting their grant on time.
“While I am grateful to the VECs and local authorities currently operating the student grant function, the system is clearly overloaded resulting in late outcomes to applications and late payments for students,” said Minister Quinn.
“I have said many times that this is not good enough. I expect the single authority to address these issues delivering a very significant service enhancement to students”, he concluded.
Gary Redmond, President of USI offered his congratulations to the CDVEC.
He said that the enactment of the Student Support Act earlier this year was a critical milestone on the road towards equity of access to education in this country.
Mr. Redmond said that, while the move to a single grant awarding agency is a much welcomed development given the obvious cost saving benefits associated with centralisation of responsibilities, the priority for this new agency has to be the students who depend on the prompt arrival of grants.
Jacinta Stewart, CEO of City of Dublin VEC (CDVEC) welcomed the Minister’s decision to invite CDVEC to act as the single awarding authority for student grants on a national basis.
She said that CDVEC recognises the enormous challenge involved and is fully committed to applying all its experience and resources as a public service body to creating an efficient and effective on-line application system.
CDVEC looks forward to working with the Minister and his Department along with Third Level Institutions, Further Education Colleges, student representative bodies and other organisations to provide a responsive and timely service to all grant applicants.
CDVEC sees the Minister’s decision as recognition of the strength and potential of the VEC sector to play a prominent and vital role in the delivery of education services across the country and it looks forward to this new opportunity with confidence