Mr. Terry Corcoran:

The Chairman asked about the back to work enterprise allowance, which is a demand-led scheme. It supports an unemployed person who wishes to commence in self-employment. We do not set targets for the programme. The number of young people applying for it was lower last year than had been hoped, but it is a demand-led scheme.

A question was asked about the back to education allowance and the vocational training and opportunities scheme, VTOS. Elements of the support provided for in the back to education allowance were cut severely during the period of austerity. For some individuals at the margins, those cuts make a difference. None the less, it is true that 60,000 people have taken up opportunities under the back to education allowance since 2009. Members may have seen in today's newspapers that a review was recently carried out of the back to education allowance. There are some questions over its success in the short-term in achieving employment outcomes. We think the long-term outcomes for parts of the programme will be significantly better. The evidence is pointing that way. None the less, it is being examined consistently. The comparison between it and VTOS is an issue that has been raised. VTOS is run by the Department of Education and Skills, whereas the back to education allowance, although people are attending educational programmes, is managed by our Department. There may be issues to be dealt with in co-ordinating the two.