Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

99. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans for back to education allowance in 2014; her plans to ensure back to education allowance will cover postgraduate courses in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33244/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department carried out and published a policy review and high level issues paper of all Employment Support Schemes including the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) earlier this year. The review was focused primarily on assessing the contribution certain programmes can make to the Department's activation policy stance. Consultation with stakeholders was identified as a key aspect of the Department's review process and consequently a stakeholders' forum was convened in February 2013. The forum brought relevant experts, practitioners, policy makers and representative bodies together to consider the review and offer suggestions and input to how future policy in this area should evolve. A report of this forum is also published on the Department's website.

The Department now moves to the implementation phase. All review recommendations and feedback from the stakeholders' forum is being considered. The review does not include specific recommendations regarding postgraduate courses, including expansion of BTEA to cover additional postgraduate courses in the future. The priority for the Department is that BTEA will be focused, targeted and suitable for the needs of the unemployed and the labour market in to the future.