John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the rules governing the back to education allowance, principally the use of progression as a fundamental condition of this allowance, in view of the fact that many unemployed people, who find themselves marginalised from the labour market due to declining employment opportunities within their selected industries, are seeking more flexible education and training opportunities to upskill or reskill in fields outside their previous skill sets; and the reason there is a necessity to seek higher qualifications, when retraining and reskilling, even if at lower qualification levels, is what is required. [24271/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third level education by enabling eligible people on social welfare to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course that leads to a higher qualification than that already held.

A person wishing to pursue BTEA will have to satisfy a number of conditions such as being a certain age, in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment for a specified time period, pursuing a full time course of study leading to a recognised qualification in a recognised college and progressing in the level of education held by the client with reference to the national framework of qualifications among others.

Progression has always been a fundamental condition of BTEA. State support for education purposes is grounded on a student progressing from one qualification level to a higher one. This is necessary to ensure displacement does not occur, in that courses could be offered to students who are not progressing at the cost of students progressing from a lower education level. It should be noted that, in the 2010/2011 academic year,of the 25,032 participants supported through BTEA, 43% pursued second level courses. Furthermore, the scheme was never intended to be an alternative form of funding for people entering or re-entering the third level education system.

However, if a person wishes to pursue a part time education course they may be able to do so while still obtaining their jobseeker's payment. They must apply at their local social welfare office and verify that participation on the course does not reduce their availability for work. In the case of jobseeker's benefit, participation on a course does not grant any extension to the normal period for which jobseeker's benefit is paid.

On 10 May, as part of the Government's Jobs Initiative, 20,900 new and additional places were announced in training, education and work experience programmes. As part of this initiative, a new fund, entitled Springboard, which is being managed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills, provides education and training opportunities to support unemployed people. The primary objective of Springboard is to help unemployed people to remain as close as possible to the labour market by accessing part-time flexible higher education and training opportunities to upskill or re-skill in areas where sustainable employment opportunities may arise as the economy recovers. The target group for this programme of over 200 courses includes unemployed people with a previous history of employment who already hold a higher level qualification at NFQ Levels 6 to 9, who may also require additional upskilling or re-skilling, in order to re-enter employment. By way of the part-time education option, unemployed people on jobseeker's' payments will be facilitated in retaining their payment, subject to continuing entitlement, within the broader back to education framework.

FÁS, as the national training authority, anticipates the needs of, and responds to, a constantly changing labour market. It strives to do this through the provision of tailored training programmes that suit various needs and access to many training programmes is not determined by a person's welfare status. Through a regional network of 66 offices and 20 training centres, FÁS operates these training programmes including some in co-operation with community, voluntary and statutory organisations. Further information is available locally at these FÁS offices.

The BTEA, in conjunction with other employment support schemes, will be monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure that it continues to meet its objectives.