Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. This proposal does not require legislation. The back to education allowance is an administrative scheme. If there is a specific case the Deputy wants me to examine, I am happy to sit down and speak with either him or Deputy Sherlock about it. I am just not sure what he was getting at.

I was very keen for us to continue paying students who found themselves out of work because of the restrictions. They lost their jobs the same as everybody else.

Now that they have gone back to full-time education, they no longer receive the PUP. In the case of students who have received the PUP during their first year of college because they had no work, it would not be fair if they received the back-to-education allowance for years two and three if they did not qualify for it in the first instance. We just want to be careful here.

I reiterate I am happy to sit down and talk to either Deputy Duncan Smith or Deputy Sherlock about this.

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