Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the situation whereby business degree graduates who are attempting to access postgraduate diplomas in education are being refused the back to education allowance due to the points threshold imposed in them by the third-level institutions concerned and the nature of the progression rule within the Department of Social Protection; if he will consider the view that this system is contradictory in view of the fact that it requires the students to have a certain number of qualifications in order to gain the points for the course but at the same time refuses to award them the BTEA because of the very nature of their qualifications; his views that this is disincentivising persons to study postgraduate diplomas in education at a time when we should be encouraging persons to return to the education system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3926/12]

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Question 221: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason behind a 2006 decision between him, the Higher Education Authority and the Postgraduate Applications Centre which saw a points cap being imposed on business degree graduates seeking to study postgraduate diplomas in education; if he will review this situation in view of the problems it is causing in terms of eligibility for the back to education allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3927/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions NOs. 220 and 221 together.

The Postgraduate Applications Centre Ltd (PAC) was established in 1998 to centrally process and assess applications to PDE courses. A common points system was devised and it has been used since. Applicants apply to PAC online and their applications are centrally assessed by a team of assessors. In 2006 a decision was taken, due to the large numbers of applicants with business related degrees, to put a cap on business type degrees. To this end a 10% allocation was imposed. The decision was taken to ensure that there was an adequate supply of post primary teachers for all subject areas and to avoid an oversupply of teachers of business subjects.

Since the demand for places from graduates with business related degrees is high and the number of places available capped, the point scores tend to be higher than for other degree areas. However, the Deputy should also note that demand for places on all PDE courses is very high (2,400 applications for 800 places) and a large number of successful applicants across all subject areas would have post graduate qualifications.

The Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) is a matter for the Minister for Social Protection. However, I have been informed that the scheme is available to 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. Progression has always been a fundamental condition of BTEA 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. The BTEA scheme is in the main in line with the progression rules in place for the student grant scheme administered by my Department.

The BTEA scheme covers a large range of full-time courses of education in approved colleges spanning basic foundation courses to third level courses across all disciplines. Courses may be pursued up to a higher diploma level in any discipline [level 8 in the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ)] or a Professional Diploma in Education hitherto known as a Graduate Diploma in Education [level 8 NFQ]. Other postgraduate qualifications including a Masters (level 9 or level 10) are not included.