Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I support the amendments. More people are looking to return to college because of the level of unemployment and their awareness of the need to upgrade their skills and more inquiries are being made in our offices about the back to education allowance. In the current climate, it makes sense to facilitate those who wish to return to third level education in the hope of increasing their skills and their employment prospects, rather than forcing them to remain out of work and draw social welfare or the jobseekers allowance in order to be eligible for the back to education allowance.

The loss of income is substantial if a person goes off the jobseekers allowance. A person on a low income wishing to return to education is only entitled to €4,103 per year in educational support, whereas a person with a social welfare background is entitled to €25,266 a year. Over a three-year degree course, this amounts to a €63,489 disparity in essential support. This anomaly limits the incentive for low-paid workers to return to full-time third level education to improve their skills and future job prospects. Essentially, people who want to escape the low-paid trap are penalised for working. Therefore, I wholeheartedly support the amendments.

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