Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The back to education allowance, BTEA, scheme is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third level education by enabling eligible people on certain social welfare payments to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course that leads to a higher qualification than that already held.

The number of participants engaged with BTEA has grown steadily in recent years. In the 2010-11 academic year there were 25,032 participants, an increase of 20.3% on the previous year, which comprised 20,808 participants. The 2009-10 academic year saw a dramatic increase of 79% on the previous year. As of 30 September 2011, there were 18,440 participants availing of the scheme. Final figures for the current academic year are not yet available as claims are still being processed. However, it is expected that participation levels will increase this year. Significant resources have been devoted to BTEA. Some €519 million has been allocated over the lifetime of the National Development Plan 2007-13. The budget for BTEA in 2011 is €198.8 million, which represents over 10% of an increase on 2010 expenditure.

A person wishing to pursue BTEA will have to satisfy certain conditions, such as being a certain age, in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment for a specified time period, pursuing a full time course of study leading to a recognised qualification in a recognised college and progressing in the level of education held by the client with reference to the national framework of qualifications, among others.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

In general, a BTEA applicant must be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment and be at least 21 years of age or 24 years for postgraduate courses, prior to commencing an approved course of study. However, lone parents and persons in receipt of jobseeker's payments can qualify at 18 years of age provided they are out of formal education for at least two years. An age criterion is necessary as BTEA was never intended to be an alternative form of funding for people entering or re-entering the education system.

A waiting period prior to entitlement is considered essential to enable people to engage in job search and consider options available to them. BTEA confers entitlement to income support for an extended period and a waiting period avoids establishing a pull factor to the live register for the purpose of accessing schemes of this nature. The qualifying period for the second level option is three months in recognition of the need for more urgent intervention for this cohort, while the qualifying period for third level courses is nine months having been reduced from 12 months only last year. A person awarded statutory redundancy may access BTEA immediately, provided an entitlement to a relevant social welfare payment is established.

State support for education purposes is grounded on a student progressing from one qualification level to a higher one and BTEA mirrors this fundamental principle which is necessary to ensure displacement does not occur. With effect from 19th July 2010, changes were introduced to the qualifying conditions of the scheme to reflect a deteriorating economic situation which built on other enhancements made to the scheme in recent years. Changes included allowing BTEA in cases where applicants were resuming studies having previously dropped out, had been granted exemptions for previous studies and allowing courses started on a part time basis to be completed full time under BTEA.

The BTEA is an administrative scheme and scheme guidelines are evaluated on a continuous basis to ensure scarce resources remain focused on those with the greatest need who are furthest from the labour market. The BTEA, in conjunction with other employment support schemes, will continue to be monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure it continues to meet its objectives.

See this speech in context