Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is not so simple to transfer from PUP to a back-to-education allowance because PUP is effectively a benefit payment so it is not means tested but the back-to-education allowance is. I ran into trouble with a query because the person's spouse had an income. so the applicant was not entitled to an assistance payment. The applicant was just €5 or €10 over so would have got a very small assistance payment in any event. The back-to-education allowance is an allowance. It is not a payment without a means test and that is where the claim one can transfer comes asunder. Anyone in receipt of PUP should be allowed to do a one-year course as it would be an opportunity for people to better themselves without a cost to the State.