Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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243. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason for refusal of back to education allowance for a person (details supplied). [29459/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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A person in receipt of the Back to Education Allowance who defers a course of study and then reapplies at a later date is deemed to be a new applicant and the decision on eligibility is subject to the conditions on the date of re-application. In this case, the participant, while approved to participate in the Back to Education Allowance Scheme, does not qualify for a payment as she is signing for Jobseeker's Benefit Credits.

I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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244. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason for refusal of the back to education allowance for a person (details supplied). [29460/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The focus of the 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.

A person wishing to pursue the BTEA has to satisfy a number of conditions. These include being a certain age, being in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment for a specified time period, commencing 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.

Progression is a fundamental condition of the BTEA scheme and state support for education purposes is grounded on a student progressing from one qualification level to a higher one.

The person concerned was refused BTEA on the basis of not progressing in the level of education held by him. The person concerned was notified of this decision on 30 August 2016. Following a review of his circumstances on 7 October 2016, the decision to disallow the claim has been upheld.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.