Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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145. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of applications in 2015 to date under the back to work allowance scheme; the maximum, minimum and average time it takes to process an application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42566/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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There are two schemes to assist people on certain social protection payments who wish to become self-employed; namely the Short Term Enterprise Allowance and the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA). The Short Term Enterprise Allowance provides immediate access to those who qualify for jobseekers benefit wishing to set up a business. Payment under the scheme is at the same rate and for the same duration as their entitlement to jobseekers benefit. The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance is designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are on social welfare payments to develop a business while allowing them to retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment over two years - 100% in year 1 and 75% in year 2. Business proposals must be recommended by a local development company or enterprise office before an application is considered for payment of the allowance.

To date, there are 435 people availing of the Short Term Enterprise Allowance and 11,900 people availing of the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, 6,228 of these were awarded in 2015. Given the nature of the application development process, the Department does not collate statistics on claim processing times with applications received being approved where the applicant is eligible. Generally, processing time for the award of the BTWEA is relatively short if the applicant has fulfilled the conditions of the scheme.