Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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598. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of recommendation 7.9 of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection Report on the Position of Lone Parents in Ireland 2017 which made recommendations to make the back to education allowance payable for students who are one parent families. [52581/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A person who is parenting alone and in receipt of certain payments from the department, may take part in a second-or third-level education course and get a Back to Education Allowance (BTEA).

The recommendation referenced by the Deputy refers to making BTEA and the SUSI maintenance grant payable together to lone parents who are undertaking an educational or training course for the duration of the course. Under the current arrangements a person cannot get the BTEA and the maintenance component of a student grant together.

A review of the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) grant is currently ongoing by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, which will help to inform any future decisions on this issue.

I should also advise of the availability of the Cost of Education Allowance paid by my Department which provides €500 per academic year to BTEA customers who have a dependent child or children, which assists lone parents accessing education.

I trust this clarifies the position at this time.