SUSI respects individuals’ right to privacy and processes personal data securely and confidentially in accordance with data protection legislation.
When submitting a grant application, applicants and other parties to their applications are required to confirm that they have read and understood this SUSI Data Protection Statement.
The Student Grant Scheme is administered by the SUSI Unit of City of Dublin Education Training Board (CDETB) as the student grant awarding authority designated by the Minister for Education and Skills under the Student Support Act 2011. CDETB is a joint data controller with the Department of Education and Skills for student grant applications under the Student Grant Scheme.
SUSI processes information, including personal data,that grant applicants provide about themselves and other parties and persons relevant to their applications (including parents, legal guardians, spouses, civil partners, cohabitants, siblings, dependent children and other relevant persons) for the purpose of assessing applicants’ eligibility to receive student grant funding.
The categories of personal data processed by SUSI for this purpose are:
SUSI exchanges data with other Government bodies and agencies subject to data processing agreements. This data is processed for the purposes of –
| Agency / Body | Purpose | Information exchanged | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Register Office (GRO) | Validation of nationality, date of birth and death records | SUSI Reference PPSN First name Last name DOB Mother’s maiden name | Batch |
| Department of Education and Skills | Validation of residency (Post Primary Pupil Database) Clarify eligibility for a grant Ensure accurate interpretation and operation of grant scheme Ensure provision of the appropriate financial support Prevention and detection of fraud, including the provision of information to support criminal investigations or prosecutions Facilitate audits | All information pertaining to the application | Batch and Direct Access |
| Revenue Commissioners | Validation of income Prevention and detection of fraud, including the provision of information to support criminal investigations or prosecutions | PPSN Name YEAR Income details | Batch |
| Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection | Validation of income Prevention and detection of fraud, including the provision of information to support criminal investigations or prosecutions | PPSN DOB YEAR Payment name Entitlements Allowance information | Direct Access |
| Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection – MyGovID | Verification of identity Facilitating registration and login to online SUSI account Contacting applicant in order to process application for a student grant | PPSN DOB First name Last name Email address Telephone number | Secure Token Service (STS) and real time Application Programming Interface (API) |
| Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine | Validation of information where applicants are in receipt of income from farming Prevention and detection of fraud, including the provision of information to support criminal investigations or prosecutions | Business Identifier number PPSN Reference year Name of payment Dates of payments | Batch |
| Department of Justice and Equality | Validation of citizenship and nationality | Person ID SUSI Reference Application ID Legacy No Permission to remain in the State Date permission valid until | Case by case requests |
| Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government | Validation of certain State payments | Name(s) SUSI Reference Address PPSN Details of payments | Case by case requests |
| QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland) | Verification of qualifications and/or equivalence of qualifications from other jurisdictions | Application no. Full title of course Name of Relevant Awarding Institution Year of Award Details of attachment Details of query Copy of qualification NFQ level | Case by Case requests |
| Higher Education Authority (HEA | Verification and validation of details of previous academic history of a student | PPSN SUSI SUSI Reference DOB NFQ level of course Course Title Return year Year of graduation Graduating Institution | Batch |
| Other grant awarding authorities (Local Authorities and Education and Training Boards) | Verification and validation of previous grant support history | Name Date of Birth PPSN Payment amount and name | Batch and Case by Case requests |
| HSE (TUSLA – the child and family agency) | Validation of certain State payments | Name DOB SUSI Reference Information on documents required | Batch |
| CAO- Central Application Office | Notification of accepted college places | CAO application no. Surname of Applicant First name of Applicant Date of Birth of Applicant CAO Course code Level of course Name of course Name of Institution | Batch |
| Approved Further and Higher Education Institutions | Verification that the student has registered on and is continuing to attend an approved course in an approved institution | SUSI Reference College Code CAO number PPSN Surname Forename DOB Graduate Type Student ID Course code Code Description Course Year Last Course Year This Course Type Course Level Eligible for Free Fees Rate last Rate this Percentage Fees Payable Fees Payable Value Registered and Progressing Student Attendance Other funding File ID | Batch |
| Student Grants Appeals Board | Processing and adjudication of any appeal to the Student Grants Appeals Board | All information pertaining to the application. | Batch |
| SOLAS | Verification and validation of previous academic history of a student | PPSN First Name Last Name Date of Birth Provider Name Local Course Title Target Award level Awarding Body Course Type Fulltime/Part-time Learner Start Date Learner End Date | Batch |
| Abtran - outsourced contract service provider for SUSI | Sub-processing of grant applications and payments, inbound/outbound post, hard copy documents, letters, e-mails, social media and phone calls. | All information pertaining to the application. | Batch, Direct Access and Case by case requests |
SUSI uses contact and identification information of grant applicants and other parties to their applications for the following purposes:
The consent of grant applicants and other parties to their applications is not required for SUSI to process their personal data for the purposes of the statutory basis on which grant applications are administered.
SUSI communicates directly with grant applicants, only, for these purposes, in line with the specific requirement of the Student Grant Scheme that an applicant shall furnish such information and evidence to an awarding authority as it requests in order to determine if they are eligible to receive a grant.
Where it is necessary for another party to an application to communicate with SUSI about this personal data, the applicant and each other party to their application can consent to this at the point of making an online application and thereafter in the applicant’s online SUSI account.
In circumstances where a third party (not a party to the application) requests information on an application, personal data will not be shared without the consent of the subject of the information. In this instance the applicant and each other party to their application must consent to this either:
Where an applicant provides information that any person relevant to their application is also an applicant, and where both applicants consent to the cross-referencing of their applications in this context, SUSI will cross-reference both applications in order to ensure that any increased entitlement to grant funding can be applied and to ensure efficiency and consistency in the processing of grant applications.
SUSI may otherwise cross-reference grant applications generally and without consent for the purposes of audit and for the prevention and detection of fraud.
Application Status, etc. Enquiries
Applicants and other parties to their applications can contact the SUSI Support Desk to make enquiries about the status of an application and about any documents or actions required to progress it.
Where disclosure of such information to another party to an application is not desired, applicants should inform SUSI of this so that appropriate controls can be put in place on a case by case basis.
In order to facilitate such enquiries, SUSI will discuss, with all parties to an application, information about the status of the application and any documents or actions required to progress it. SUSI Support Desk staff will ask verification questions to ensure that SUSI only shares this information with a party to the application.
Discussing Personal Data
SUSI will not discuss personal data of a party to an application with other parties to the application, or with a third party outside the application, without their consent.
Where it is necessary for another party to an application, or a third party outside the application, to communicate with SUSI about this personal data, the applicant and each other party to their application can consent to this:
Pursuant to data protection legislation, individuals may access or request a copy of their personal data held by SUSI, or they may request its rectification, by downloading, completing and submitting a Subject Access Form (SAR Procedure and Form) available at www.susi.ie.
Subject to data retention requirements, individuals may request the erasure of their personal data held by SUSI where the data is no longer required for the purposes for which was processed.
SUSI retains data securely for the purposes of grant administration, audit and case reviews and does not retain personal data for longer than is necessary and/or as required by law.
SUSI may share personal data with authorised agents or third parties as data processors who act on behalf of SUSI for the purposes of grant administration and who process data securely pursuant to its instruction under a contractual relationship and subject to data processing agreements. CDETB continues to be the data controller of this data.
Applicants and other parties to their applications may contact SUSI, or agents acting on its behalf, by telephone. To ensure that SUSI provides a high quality customer service, telephone conversations are recorded for staff training and quality control purposes and for reviewing and confirming details of conversations with SUSI, where necessary.
Where applicants or other parties to their applications agree, accept or request that SUSI communicates with them by e-mail, they are solely responsible for ensuring the availability, security and integrity of their own email account. The transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure and, consequently, while SUSI takes all reasonable security measures, it cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of information transmitted by e-mail..
Data retained by SUSI, including computer and paper records, is stored in secure facilities. SUSI takes appropriate security measures against unauthorised access to, or alteration, disclosure or destruction of, data and against accidental loss or destruction. Data processing agreements entered into between SUSI and those persons or bodies with whom it exchanges data take account of the security requirements and measures necessary to protect the data that is exchanged.
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