Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 19:

In page 4, before section 4, to insert the following new section:

"4. The Minister shall, as soon as may be, after the passing of this Act prepare and lay before both houses of the Oireachtas a report on the impact of the of the increasing of the Back to Education Allowance qualifying period from 6 months to 15 months.".

This amendment relates to the qualifying period for the back to education allowance. I welcomed what the Minister had to say about this yesterday, when he indicated he was willing to change the qualifying period back to nine months. While that would be welcome, I would like to see it reverting to six months. If someone lost his or her job in March or April, and the period remained at nine months, it would mean the person could not take up a college place in October of the same year. He or she would have to wait until October the following year to do so. If such people remain unemployed, they will lose out on another year. Does the Minister think people might purposely try to lose their jobs in order to be able to go to college and receive this allowance? I do not know if people would do that.

Was this scheme abused when the qualifying period was set at six months? Perhaps that is why the previous Minister increased it to 15 months. If there was no abuse we should keep it at six months so that somebody who is six months unemployed will have the opportunity to achieve a third level place and improve their education, something we should encourage. Getting out of poverty is difficult enough for people. We should do anything we can to improve their lot, and the best way is through education and on to employment. We should not put obstacles in their way. The proposed qualifying period is an obstacle. I ask the Minister to seriously consider bringing it back to six months.

While I welcome the indication that it may be reduced to nine months, somebody who loses their job in, say, March, will not be able to take up a place in college until September or October the following year. That is a long time and does them no service. What was the thinking behind the previous Minister's decision to increase the qualifying period to 15 months? Was the scheme abused? If not, can we revert to six months?