Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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129. To ask the Minister for Social Protection for the purposes of applications for a back to education allowance, if any or all of the time an Irish citizen has spent in prison in the UK may be taken into account when assessing whether an applicant has been the required minimum number of days on jobseeker's allowance, considering that such time can be taken into account for prison sentences served here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37828/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A person wishing to pursue a course of study under the back to education allowance ( BTEA) scheme 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.

The period for which a person is required to be on a jobseeker’s payment is 78 days for the second level option or 234 days for the third level option and linking of periods on social welfare payments may apply. Periods spent in prison in this State can count towards the qualifying period for BTEA once an entitlement to a relevant social welfare payment has been established. There are no plans to extend this provision to include periods spent in prison outside of the State.