Ms Bríd O'Brien:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak. The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed sees the back to education allowance as an important support for unemployed people to re-educate and retrain, in particular in the current economic climate when so much employment has been lost and so many need to upskill. The allowance is important also for those the education system failed the first time. Their initial education may have been a poor or unfruitful experience.

The issues we raise in our written submission to the committee reflect very much some of the issues which were raised in the review the Department recently conducted of a whole range of employment supports. One of the things that struck us from that review was that certain assumptions appeared to have been drawn on the allowance which might be unfair given that it often plays a role for those for whom second-chance education is of critical importance. In many respects, the allowance has been criticised for poor outcomes in the way the community employment schemes have been criticised when in fact it is addressing issues the mainstream education has not. It would be interesting to see if initiatives like Pathways to Work and the introduction of the Intreo model help with some of the data gaps which clearly exist. The allowance must be reviewed in terms of overall education outcomes. It is a point the Minister for Social Protection picked up on herself at the stakeholders' forum which was held around the review.

The OECD has raised concerns about the lock-in effect. We take issue with that, in particular - building on Mr. Walshe's point - as requiring a job search first, while well and good, is not an option for many given the need for longer-term engagement and the opportunity to get a degree, which is critical in the evolving labour market and in the context of scarce employment opportunities. The back to education allowance plays a very important role in people's re-education and retraining. Short-term courses can be very useful for those who already have significant education or experience. It allows them to redirect their experience and education into areas in which there are opportunities. Unfortunately, this is not an option for many who require longer-term intervention. We have concerns also about the proposal to increase the age limit from 21 to 23 years. In many respects, this change presents particular challenges to the State if the Youth Guarantee is rolled out. The back to education allowance is currently the most significant activation measure. The age limit change reduces its availability.

Cuts to supports have, unfortunately, already taken place in last year's budget. This has thrown up considerable issues for people, in particular in relation to the abolition of the cost-of-education allowance, which was important to many. Eligibility issues represent a range of challenges. It will be interesting to see over time if the case management approach which is being rolled out through Intreo will help to address these. It is important that the model is rolled out not just to jobseekers but beyond. That will require that frontline staff have a strong grasp of the education and training options available to people and can offer people useful advice and guidance on access to courses of relevance to them and which assist them to progress to work.

That is particularly important if we are to get better outcomes from the back to education allowance. A number of anomalies exist in the system, particularly in respect of those progressing on from other payments who may benefit from the back to education allowance. If an individual transferring from jobseeker's benefit to jobseeker's allowance ends up on the supplementary allowance, he or she may need to apply for the back to education allowance to avail of educational opportunities. The nature of the academic year also creates problems on that front.

The issue of choice arose at our recent annual delegate conference. An unemployed delegate made the interesting observation that a person is an expert on his or her own life. That tends to get lost in the debate on activation schemes and the back to education allowance. If this scheme changes in the same way as many others have, in terms of people being directed into schemes, provision should be made for constructive dialogue with the unemployed person so that his or her concerns are taken on board and he or she is supported in making an informed and appropriate choice.