Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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179. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of making the back to education allowance available to postgraduate students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12170/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The focus of back to education allowance (BTEA) is on providing income support to jobseekers in improving their education qualifications to access the labour market, meeting emerging skill needs and supporting those who have poor levels of educational attainment.

Postgraduate courses that lead to a higher diploma in any discipline or the Professional Masters in Education (PME) are eligible courses supported under the BTEA. In addition, the BTEA also supports a masters qualification based solely on life experience where the applicant holds no other third level qualification.

It is not possible to estimate the cost of making BTEA available to postgraduate students, as it is not feasible to determine the number of people on welfare who may wish to pursue postgraduate studies.

The BTEA was never intended to be an alternative form of funding for people entering or re-entering the third level education system. The Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) Grant payable by the Department of Education and Skills represents the primary support for persons pursuing education. The eligibility rules that govern the payment of a student maintenance grant are a matter for that Department.