Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

I have had a lot of calls about this. A simple criterion should apply; if someone wants to go back to education or to further their education, he should not be put in a position where he must stay on the dole for another six months before qualifying. It is an extraordinary situation. One young woman approached me recently. She decided not to sign on after having been away because she did not want to be a drain on the State. She was forced to sign on somewhat later and was subsequently refused the back to education allowance because she had not signed on earlier. When she put it to the social welfare office that she had not signed on because she did not want to do so unnecessarily and be a drain on the State, she was told she should have signed on, been a drain on the State and she would then have qualified. It is crazy. If people show the energy and dynamism of wanting to improve their education and not be forced into dependency on social welfare, we must deal with the anomalies that would people in that position and I would urge the Minister to do that.

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