Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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I raised yesterday with the Taoiseach the issue of the back to work enterprise allowance. I told him I had watched "Prime Time" the other night which carried an interview with a young man. The programme was to do with unemployment and people who found themselves out of a job. This man wanted to set up a new heritage business in the Grand Canal area. The idea was that they would provide walking tours along the Grand Canal and have pod casts, a barge on the canal and so on. It seemed to be a worthwhile project but because he was unemployed he was having difficulty getting a loan from the bank to set up this initiative. He then tried to determine if he was eligible for the back to work enterprise allowance, but unfortunately he was ineligible because he was not long enough on the dole. To get the back to work enterprise allowance one must be on the dole for two years. If one qualifies for the allowance one is also eligible to get start-up loans and money towards equipment needed for one's business and so on. It is a very worthwhile allowance for which to apply and this man had a worthwhile proposal. He could do with qualifying for this particular allowance, but unfortunately he was not eligible.

The point was made in the programme by the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, which has made a budget submission in this regard, that the time one must be on jobseeker's benefit to qualify for this allowance should be reduced from two years to six months. The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association has requested that the waiting time to qualify for this allowance be reduced from two years to three months.

The Taoiseach agreed with me yesterday when I highlighted this matter on the Order of Business. He said we must examine these issues to ensure people who have ideas are not deprived of the opportunity to do something because of the application of an unrelated rule. That gave me hope that the Government might consider changing the eligibility rule for the back to work enterprise allowance. I would be interested to hear the Minister of State's response.

There is a great deal of publicity surrounding the campaign where people are being asked to put their ideas on to a website. Unemployed people with good business ideas could set up new businesses. Individuals are being paid social welfare who could help build up our economy by establishing new businesses, but they are being hampered by the inflexibility of our rules on the back to work allowance, the back to work enterprise allowance, back to education schemes and so on. At a time when so many people are going on the dole it is important to get them back to work and allow them set up new jobs in areas such as the one in which the man I mentioned earlier wanted to set up a business promoting our environment and our heritage, as opposed to building up our economy through speculation, development and so on, which was the case in the past. We must ensure that our social welfare schemes do not prevent people from setting up new businesses, getting back to education and the workplace. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Department. What the Deputy has outlined is very much what we are hearing when we meet people on the ground. The long reply outlines all the good actions the Department takes currently but the most relevant is near the end. I could read the five pages for the Deputy but the comment at the end states: "In view of the particular relevance of the back to work scheme to the unemployed, the eligibility requirements and other aspects of the scheme are being examined to ensure they continue to meet the needs of individuals in the current climate." There are many good actions the Department has always taken but there was always a period before they clicked in. It must try to target resources at those who really need them rather than those who might almost deliberately become unemployed to get benefits. That is not what is happening now but it might happen in the case of a few. The increase recently in the number of people who have been made unemployed has brought all the schemes into focus, and they are being examined. The reply outlines what currently exists but with the debate this week and discussions at Cabinet level, things are being looked at and the last paragraph is probably key. We have all made suggestions at different levels and I hope some of the projects can be adjusted to help people who do not want to be unemployed and who want to re-enter the workforce. I do not know if they can go the whole way and make these available from day one, but the situation is being examined and I hope something good comes from that.