Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister and wish her well in her work. It is a great privilege to be a Minister at any time, but it is particularly nice to be the Minister for Social and Family Affairs in good times when money is readily available in the economy. It is difficult to provide the necessary funding to give everyone a good standard of living.

This morning I asked the Leader, Senator O'Rourke, to request the Minister to come before the House to discuss the back to education allowance as a matter of urgency. There are many schemes in the Department which support the disadvantaged. However, the decision to withdraw the back to education allowance from those on summer holidays and from postgraduates was a retrograde step. Senator Kitt also referred to this issue. I appeal to the Minister to address the difficulty caused by that decision. The back to education allowance gave many people an opportunity of which they did not think they would be able to avail. Many of them have embarked on studies which have given them great pleasure and satisfaction because of their mature attitude and talents.

On Friday evening last, I met a married man of 47 years of age who has eight children. He left national school when he was 14 years old because his father died. He had a small farm of approximately 35 acres in the west which was poorly resourced. He found it difficult to make ends meet. He had an off-farm job for a few years, which he lost due to bad business circumstances. He joined a FÁS scheme and was re-employed in the community, which gave him a sense of responsibility. He started a project which led him to a third level institution. From the day he entered that institution, he has been successful. He now has a status in the community of which he dared not dream in the past. He was disgusted when he learned that, from early June, he will not have the support mechanism of the back to education allowance for himself and his family. He is also annoyed that he will not be able to continue in the postgraduate scheme. It is a retrograde step that a person of his age and circumstances, who has been through a great deal, may have to leave without his final qualifications. That is one example of the many of which I am aware.

Last year, 3,679 people received the allowance. That is a small number. It is petty to attack this group and to withdraw that support. Resources should be found for the scheme and the Minister should reassess this decision, which has led to great uncertainty, at the earliest possible opportunity. Many students are despondent because having been encouraged to go back to education in better times, they now feel unwanted. They are disadvantaged because resources cannot be found. It is a tragedy, but I hope the Minister will do something about it.