Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this issue. The matter refers to the question of supports and, specifically, the back to education allowance scheme, which is successful, despite recent changes to qualifying criteria whereby one must wait six months to avail of the scheme. My purpose in raising this matter is to highlight certain categories of people who are deemed to qualify for the back to education allowance.

I tabled a question to the Minister for Education and Science in March and, in her reply, she stated the categories of people are as follows: those who hold EU nationality; those who have official refugee status; those who have been granted humanitarian leave to remain in the State; those who have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to an Irish national residing in the State or who is the child of such a person and not having EU nationality; those who have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to a national of another EU member state who is residing in the State and who is or has been employed or self-employed in the State or who is the child of such a person having EU nationality; or is a national of a member country of the European economic area or Switzerland.

That is an all-embracing list but society is ever-changing and many thousands of people have sought status under asylum and refugee laws and international conventions. However, in the absence of a proper immigration policy, they are forced to wait and do nothing while in receipt of one direct payment of €19.10 per week, which is low. This is not recognised as a qualifying payment according to the current criteria for the back to education scheme. I ask that it be considered as such a payment.

If the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is to be taken at his word, the parents of children born in Ireland prior to the passage of the latest citizenship Act are likely to be granted status in the near future and many thousands will fall foul of this criterion if their cases are not reviewed in the near future. The next difficulty is that once status is achieved by a person, the six-month qualifying criterion for the back to education allowance will kick in and, depending on when status is granted, it may not coincide with the academic year, about which the Minister of State and the Government should be aware.

Allowing more people in these categories to qualify for the back to education allowance would save the State money in the long term because, otherwise, their only prospects would be for unemployment, the longer they remain in the State and the longer they must readjust once a decision on their status has been taken. It is inhumane not only to restrict such people to spend most of their days in accommodation centres and refuse them the right to work but to further restrict them from accessing education, which can be gained at a low level in many colleges of further education.

I have been asked specifically to raise this case by Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa College of Further Education which sees its remit as not only serving the wider community but serving the community at its widest. I was once proud to be associated with the chairman of its board of management. We must recognise the reality of the new Ireland. I have also been asked to raise this issue by the Cois Tine, an organisation which provides support for asylum seekers and refugees in Ireland in so far as it can and the system allows.

The requests are simple — make the €19.10, poor payment as it is, a qualifying payment and apply it payment directly; even when people are granted status, do not allow the six month period to kick in and make use of not only the people who are willing to make themselves available for further education and subsequently for higher qualified employment, but the people who are waiting for decisions on their futures and the lives of their families. Give them something to aspire to and to occupy them while the State gets its act together in making decisions on this matter.

Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to answer the question in respect of the role of the Department of Education and Science in this matter. In the further education sector, persons in the following categories may participate on courses offered by vocational educational committees, namely, EU nationals, persons who have refugee status in Ireland, persons in the State as the spouse of an EU national where the EU national has moved from one country to another within the EU to work, persons who have been granted leave to remain in the State on humanitarian grounds, persons who have permission to remain in the State as the parents of a child born in Ireland and applicants for asylum who have been granted permission to work under the terms of a Government decision of 26 July 1999.

The arrangements to be applied to non-nationals provide that asylum seekers with an entitlement to work — those who entered the country before 26 July 1999, who have been waiting at least one year for a determination of their cases and are in possession of a notification of their right to work from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform — may be treated on the same basis as Irish nationals in terms of access to vocational training programmes within the further education sector. Part-time courses in adult literacy and English language supports may be offered by VECs under the adult literacy and community education scheme to persons who are applicants for asylum who do not come under the categories I outlined. Such persons who do not have an entitlement to work may avail of free access to adult literacy, English language and mother culture supports only.

Regarding eligibility for student support, the main conditions of the Department's free fees initiative are that students must be first-time undergraduates, hold EU nationality or official refugee status and have been ordinarily resident in an EU member state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course. Official refugees are eligible on the same residency terms as Irish nationals. Asylum seekers are not eligible under the free fees initiative. The Department provides financial support under three third level maintenance grant schemes and one maintenance grant scheme in respect of post-leaving certificate courses. Under the terms of the schemes, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, means testing and previous academic attainment.

The nationality requirement applies equally under all schemes and requires that candidates must hold EU nationality, have official refugee status, have been granted humanitarian leave to remain in the State, have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to an Irish national residing in the State, or be the child of such person, not having EU nationality, have permission to remain in the State by virtue of marriage to a national of another EU member state who is residing in the State and who is or has been employed or self-employed in the State, or be the child of such a person, not having EU nationality, or be nationals of a member country of the European Economic Area, EEA, or Switzerland. Asylum seekers are not eligible to be considered for grant assistance. However, candidates who have been awarded official refugee status or humanitarian leave to remain in the State are eligible to be considered for grant assistance on the same basis as Irish nationals. I am aware that barriers to access to further and higher education was one of the issues that arose during consultation on the education response to the national action plan on racism.

Following recent discussions with the Reception and Integration Agency, my Department has agreed to establish a steering committee to examine further the Department's response to the educational needs of newcomers to Ireland. A group has been established under the chairmanship of a senior Department official and will comprise representatives of all relevant divisions of the Department. The group will review the Department's response to the education of newcomers to Ireland, identify emerging issues relating to the education of newcomers, propose solutions to the issues identified and arrange for their implementation. One of the group's primary roles will to be liaise closely with the Reception and Integration Agency of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on educational matters relating to refugees and asylum seekers.