SUSI tuition fees for final year PhD

I am going into fourth year of a structured PhD and have been in receipt of the special rate of SUSI tuition fees for the first three years of my course. The university no longer offers PhDs in my subject to be conducted in the old way, which usually took three years due to the absence of compulsory modules. Now SUSI are telling me that because they funded my one-year masters degree (a separate stand alone course in a different subject in a different school), they will not fund my fourth year tuition fees for my PhD. Obviously I would never have started the four year programme if I thought I would not be allowed to finish it- there is no way I can afford the €4,500 of the final year. My appeal has just been rejected. I cannot help but think SUSI have not updated their policy of four years maximum tuition funding to account for the fact that the structure of the PhD has now changed. Of course I would have opted for a shorter version if I could have, but I was not permitted by my college to do this. Also, entry onto this PhD was only permitted with a masters degree. I just think I've been allowed to waste three years very hard work and now have to drop out because they have an outdated policy.