Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

This is a new initiative, which is also part of social partnership, to try to target those who did not get an opportunity to participate in third level education. It was piloted in Tallaght Institute of Technology last September and it will be extended in the autumn. It will specifically target the people about whom the Deputy spoke, namely, those who did not benefit from higher education, who are on low incomes and who would not be in a position to give up those low incomes but who would be in a position to do part-time courses. That is a separate scheme which would target those people.

We support people on low incomes and try to get them into education. However, the back to education allowance scheme is targeted primarily at those on social welfare and at trying to get them out of the trap which keeps them on social welfare.

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