John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome to the House. I support everything said by Senator Moloney. I know that most people who lost construction jobs as a result of the crash genuinely want to work and want to do anything it takes to get a job. I spoke to the Minister for Education and Skills in the House last week about a situation in my area where a young fellow who was on the dole for two years decided to study at night two subjects he failed in the leaving certificate. He studied at home and went to the UK to do an examination for one day to pass the two examinations that would qualify him for a course in engineering. He wanted to apply for the back to education allowance but was told that he would not receive it because he was not out of mainstream education long enough just because he went away to do one examination for one day. In effect, we are saying that we are not going to give that individual the back to education allowance but just leave him on the dole. I know that the one-stop-shop scenario is supposed to be a catch-all and a system that works and I fully support it but there needs to be less bureaucracy attached to it. The case I cited is a clear example of where people should have the power to use their discretion. This guy wants to educate himself further and get a job, which he will eventually get if he is allowed to do it. I spoke to a social welfare officer yesterday who told me that it is a tick-box scenario. One must tick the boxes to qualify. This is just an example of where it is nonsense. I hope the Minister tells social welfare officers that they have a degree of discretion because, at the end of the day, we are not going to lose money on that.