Student at a loss as to why payment delayed

Wednesday, 23-05-2012

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Posted on 2008-12-23 in

Student at a loss as to why payment delayed

SINÉAD O'CONNELL is one of hundreds of students around the country still waiting for her first grant payment as the long first terms nears its end. The mother-of-two from Youghal, Co Cork, is in her final year of a three-year social studies degree at University College Cork.

She submitted the grant application by early September after getting her exam results. She submitted additional paper work in early November, but she said she heard nothing from Cork County Council until it promised an imminent decision earlier this week.

However, she still has no guarantee that the first payment will be made before Christmas.

"I was a bit late getting some of the documents in but to be left waiting another six weeks is terrible, particularly as I've been getting the grant for the past two years and they already have most of my details," Sinead said.

The grant should be worth about €3,000 to Sinéad, which she said makes the difference between her going to college or not. It helps pay for her bus fare for the 100km daily round-trip to UCC, for her books and some extra tuition.

"If I didn't get the grant from the start, there was no way I could afford to go back," said Sinéad, who is in her late thirties.

She and her husband Liam have two daughters, Emma, 5, and Laura, 3, but they are lucky not to have big childcare costs.

Cork County Council said it does not comment on individual cases, but a spokesperson said applications are usually finalised within six weeks of completed documentation being provided by students.

Sinéad said she would not like these kind of delays to continue for other students going back to college or starting as mature students.

She and Liam worked at a local factory which closed five years ago, and she had previously qualified as a dental nurse.

"I was out of work a couple of years when I decided to take the bull by the horns and go back to college. I've always wanted to do social science, I love working with people and I'm hoping to get community work or a social services job," she said.