Mayo, Meath, Kildare and Wexford County Councils performed worst when it comes to processing student grant applications for 2009/10 according to new figures from UCD Students' Union.

Mayo and Meath are joint bottom of the table with first instalment final grant payments paid to students on January 29^th, a shocking 113 days behind Waterford City Council.

Kildare and Wexford County Councils made final payments to students on January 15^th 2010, taking 99 days more than the best performing county council.

The figures show that in the case of Mayo, Meath, Kildare and Wexford students were left struggling with financial problems for an entire semester.

Students paid an average of €1000 per month on living expenses, forcing them to find €4000 to survive while they await the overdue payment of their grant.

In certain cases, students from both Meath and Mayo awaiting the grant payment were left 16 weeks longer than their fellow students from Waterford City Council.

UCD SU President Paul Lynam said "The gap between the best and worse County Councils is something that must be addressed immediately. Students cannot suffer financial hardship based on what county they live in.

The Social Welfare system is a benchmark of what the grant system should be. Processing of student grants should take place online and under the umbrella of a centralised system."

UCD SU Education officer James Williamson said "It is beyond belief that a student is expected to wait until a time whereby they should be receiving the second instalment of their grant, not their first.

Having a centralised system and utilising electronic fund transfer payment (EFT) would save the taxpayer millions of euro per year.

This would see a cut back in administration costs for both the university and county council, and ultimately speed up the whole process for students."

NOTES:

1. All figures based on the final payment of the first instalment of the 2009/2010 academic year.

2. First semester in UCD runs from Monday Sept 7^th - Friday Dec 18^th.

3. All figures based on statistics from Fees and Grants Office, UCD Registry.

4. See full league table published below.