Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 143: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if back to school allowance is payable to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19685/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) Scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Applications for the allowance may be made between the beginning of June and the end of September each year. A person may qualify for payment of a back to school clothing and footwear allowance if he or she is in receipt of a social welfare or health service executive payment, is participating in an approved employment scheme or attending a recognised education or training course, and has household income at or below certain specified levels.

The Dublin/ Mid Leinster Area of the Executive have advised that it has no record of an application for BSCFA from the person concerned. If she wishes to apply, she should contact the Community Welfare Officer at her local health centre as soon as possible to enable her entitlement to an allowance to be determined.

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the criteria used to evaluate persons in order to qualify for the back to education allowance. [19374/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The back to education allowance (BTEA) is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to encourage and facilitate people on certain social welfare payments to improve their skills and qualifications and, therefore, their prospects of returning to the active work force. It is paid at a standard weekly rate equivalent to the maximum rate of the relevant social welfare payment that qualifies the applicant for participation in the scheme. It essentially replaces their existing social welfare income and in addition an annual €400 cost of education allowance is payable.

To qualify for participation an applicant must, inter alia, be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment and must be at least 21 years of age prior to commencing an approved course of study. People in receipt of disability related payments may access the scheme at 18 years of age. Similarly, lone parents and people in receipt of unemployment payments can qualify at 18 years of age provided they are out of formal education for at least 2 years. An applicant must also be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment for at least six months, in the case of a person wishing to complete a second level course, or twelve months in the case of a person wishing to pursue a third level qualification. The twelve month requirement is reduced to nine in the case of people who wish to attend a third level course and who are participating in the National Employment Action plan.

The current scheme is in place since January 1998 and has been subject to review and modification over the years to ensure it continues to support those people who are most distant from the labour market and whose need is greatest. In Budget 2007 the scheme was extended so that people who are awarded Statutory Redundancy may access the BTEA scheme immediately provided an entitlement to a relevant social welfare payment is established prior to commencing an approved course of study. The qualifying period for illness benefit recipients was also reduced from three to two years. These further improvements to the BTEA scheme will come into effect from the beginning of the new academic year i.e. 1 September 2007.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the status of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19380/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned applied for supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) in June 2007. The scheme is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Apart from a number of excluded categories, anyone in the State who satisfies a means test, has applied for any other benefit or allowances to which they maybe entitled, has registered for work with FÁS if they are of working age and satisfies a habitual residency test may qualify for basic SWA. Under the legislation a number of categories are specifically excluded from receiving assistance. These are people in full-time work, people in full-time education and people involved in trade disputes.

The Dublin/Mid-Leinster Area of the HSE has advised that the person concerned applied for SWA in June 2007 at which time he was requested to provide further information about his place(s) of residence and his source(s) of income, for the period of residence in the State. This information was required in order to undertake an assessment of his entitlement to basic SWA. The person concerned was refused basic SWA as he failed to provide credible evidence that he satisfied the habitual residence condition and also because he was unable to provide evidence of his source(s) of income.

The person concerned was informed of his right to appeal the decision to the designated appeals officer of the Executive. To date the Executive have not received an appeal.