Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will explain the sense in denying the back to education allowance to a person (details supplied) which will mean that they will be forced to drop out of college, will then be eligible for a full dole payment in January but will not be able to go back to their course at this point; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36283/11]

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 certain social welfare payments to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course that leads to a higher qualification than that already held. An applicant must be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment for a minimum period immediately prior to commencing an approved course of study to qualify for BTEA. This requirement has always been a feature of the BTEA scheme and is considered necessary to ensure that limited resources are directed at those most in need. The allowance essentially replaces a person's existing social welfare income and, in addition, an annual €500 cost of education allowance is payable.

A person signing for credits for the required length of time is eligible to participate in the scheme provided the relevant qualifying conditions for BTEA are satisfied. Persons signing for credits do not receive a weekly payment but they can avail of the cost of education allowance. This is a once off payment of €500 at the start of each academic year.

The person concerned was paid his full entitlement of jobseeker's benefit for 234 days to 11 February 2011. His subsequent application for jobseeker's allowance was disallowed because his means derived from parental income are in excess of the scheduled limit. He claimed for credited contributions only from 14 February 2011.

He applied for back to education allowance on 13 July 2011. On 15 August 2011, a letter was sent informing him that his BTEA application had been approved on the basis of his credited contribution claim and he was entitled to the cost of education allowance payment of €500 on production of the relevant documentation from the Registrar's office of the college he is attending. A letter of reminder was sent on 24 October 2011 but to date no response has been received. There are no plans, at present, to modify the existing qualifying criteria for the BTEA scheme for people who are not in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment at the commencement of a course of education.