Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she plans to amend the system whereby a person must be on jobseeker's assistance for two years before they qualify for a back to work scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9334/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The back to work scheme was introduced to assist long term unemployed people, lone parents, and sickness related welfare recipients to return to active employment either by taking up employment or becoming self-employed. It is designed to support people who would not otherwise be able to return to the workforce for financial reasons.

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.

To qualify for the back to work enterprise allowance a person must set up a self–employment business that has been approved by a Partnership Company or a department's facilitator and, in the case of someone on the live register, they must be in receipt of a jobseeker's payment for 2 years prior to commencing their self employment. Participants on the back to work enterprise allowance receive a tapered percentage of their social welfare payment over a four year period. Participants may also retain entitlement to certain other secondary benefits.

The operation of the scheme has been subject to review and modification over the years to ensure that it continues to assist those furthest from the labour market. The requirement to be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment for a minimum period has always been a feature of the scheme. A waiting period is considered essential to confer entitlement to income support for an indefinite period and is considered necessary in the context of targeting scarce resources at those who need it most. I can assure you that the Government is absolutely determined to do all we can to help get people back to work and the scheme will continue to be monitored in this context.