Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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104. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if an application for the back to education allowance will be awarded without delay as the person (details supplied) has no financial means. [37871/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The person mentioned made enquiries about accessing the back to education allowance scheme (BTEA) at her local Intreo Centre. She was given an application form and subsequently returned the completed form. Her application was examined by a deciding officer and she was refused a back to education allowance because she did not meet a basic qualification of the scheme, i.e., that a person must be in receipt of a jobseekers payment for at least 234 paid days prior to the commencement of the first year of the course the person wishes to pursue. The person in question had been paid jobseekers allowance for a total of only 97 days up to the 16 August 2016. The person therefore did not qualify for the BTEA scheme and was informed of this in writing on the 16 August 2016.

I trust that clarifies the matter for the Deputy.