Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will interrupt Mr. Corcoran very briefly. I thank him for his contribution. He has a fairly good idea of where I am coming from on this issue. The big thing that causes me a problem with the back to education allowance, which runs across the PLC and further education sector - guidance counsellors in Ballymun will be aware of this issue - is that some of the courses young people are doing can cost up to €2,000 a year after equipment for the course has been bought and the cost of examinations with external bodies is paid. This no fault of the Departments; it is just the way things are. We should be trying to open up those pathways. The back to education allowance was cut hard during the period of austerity and we can understand why that happened. I have wrecked my own brains trying to figure out how we could tailor the system better. A student on some of the technology courses cannot even retain the books to pass them on the following year because technology has moved on in the 12-month period. Books on technology that cost €100, €200 or €250 are scrap at the end of a two- or three-year cycle. Is there a way around this? I do not know if there is, but we have to look at VTOS and the back to education allowance and find a middle ground.