One in five student grant applicants have yet to have their claims processed, three months into the college year.
Department of Education information released to Fine Gael shows that almost 60,000 students applied for grant assistance this year, but almost 13,000 applications have still not been processed.
Fine Gael Education Spokesman Fergus O'Dowd has described this as incredible.
He says students are meanwhile finding it impossible to make ends meet. Some are being threatened by colleges and some are even dropping out, he said.
Grants are processed by Vocational Education Committees and by local councils.
Among the worst offenders, according to this data, are County Dublin VEC, and Cork, Kildare and Fingal County Councils, who have all yet to process more than 50% of claims.
Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority Tom Boland has called for the payment of third-level grants to be centralised in one existing body.
Mr Boland said it did not make sense to have over 60 local councils and VECs trying to administer a scheme.
He said he was dismayed at the inability of a significant number of local bodies to make grant decisions in a timely manner. He said this led to stress for students and costs for colleges.
He said this has been a problem since he was a student 'over 30 years ago'.
New legislation that is currently going through committee stage contains plans for a single grant awarding agency. The Union of Students in Ireland said it welcomed these plans.
