Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will grant back-to-work allowances to persons in receipt of unemployment benefit after a period of three months in view of the downturn in the economy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40184/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The back-to-work allowance scheme is part of the department's employment support programmes designed to assist and encourage the long term unemployed, lone parents, people with disabilities and other social welfare recipients to return to the active labour force. These allowances are designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are long term dependant on social welfare payments to make the return to work financially attractive and viable.

There are two strands to the scheme, the back-to-work allowance (BTWA) for persons who take up employment and the back-to-work enterprise allowance (BTWEA) for persons who become self-employed. Participants receive a tapered percentage of their social welfare payment over a three year period for employees and a four year period for those who become self-employed. Participants may also retain entitlement to certain other secondary benefits.

To qualify for this allowance the application must be submitted in advance and the person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment for a specific length of time immediately prior to commencing employment. In the case of jobseeker's allowance or benefit, the minimum period is two years. The requirement to be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment for a minimum period has always been a feature of the scheme in order to target the scheme at the most disadvantaged. People who have been unemployed for a very short time are not the main focus of the scheme.

The Department will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the back-to-work scheme to ensure that it continues to assist those furthest from the labour market. However, I believe that the current provisions are adequate and I have no plans at present to modify the scheme.

Chris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 239: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amount of money paid out in children's allowances in 2006 and 2007; the amount of that figure, in the same period, paid out to families of non-Irish nationals; if it is possible to ascertain the figure for children's allowances paid out to parents working here whose children are not resident here; if so, the amount paid out in 2006 and 2007 to families of non-national, non-resident children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40108/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The total expenditure on Child Benefit in 2006 was €2,056M, for 2007 the figure was €2,232m.

The percentage of total Child Benefit expenditure paid to non national customers in respect of resident children is estimated at 13.5% in 2006 and 14% in 2007, this would equate to circa €277m in 2006 and €312m in 2007.

The amount of Child Benefit paid to EU workers in respect of non resident children in 2006 was €2.9m and in 2007 it was €4.77m.