Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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104. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the step she will take to ensure that those entitled to a back to education-education training and development option are able to access the payment where the course is funded wholly or partly by State agencies and if they lead to improved employment prospects on completion, as outlined by her Department, but where applicants on courses such as the MSc in GIS and remote sensing in Maynooth, County Kildare, which clearly meets that criteria, are being refused. [41702/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The back to education programme (BTEA) provides a wide range of second chance education opportunities for unemployed people, lone parents and people with disabilities. The programme includes an education, training and development (ET&D) option. This option is used to support jobseekers to undertake short-duration, evening, and ad-hoc courses without interruption of the jobseeker’s payment. In the main the type of courses relate personal development, literacy classes or general training courses. Participants on ET&D continue to be paid a jobseeker’s payment, are exempt from engaging in job search but must be available for employment for the duration of the course should an opportunity arise.

The only post-graduate courses covered by the BTEA are higher diplomas in any discipline and the Professional Masters in Education.

This Department does not offer specific supports for students pursuing third-level qualifications outside of the back to education programme. The principal support towards full-time courses, in financial terms, is provided for under the student grant scheme administered by the Department of Education and Skills.