Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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79. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the supports in place for persons on jobseeker's payments who wish to take up a higher degree to improve their employment potential. [2578/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Back to Education Allowance Scheme (BTEA) is designed to support second chance education. It enables eligible persons to pursue approved education courses and to continue to receive income support for the duration of a course of study, subject to meeting certain conditions. The objective of BTEA is to assist those who are distant from the labour market to acquire the necessary education to improve their chances of becoming independent of the social welfare system. The BTEA should not be viewed, however, as an alternative to the student grant system.

The focus of the BTEA scheme is on providing assistance to the highest possible number of those in greatest need in terms of meeting the requirements of a modern labour market. People in possession of a third-level qualification have already achieved a high level of academic attainment which should impact positively on their employment prospects.

Other than the Professional Masters in Education, which is a pre-requisite to taking up a teaching post, the BTEA does not provide income support to jobseekers seeking to pursue a higher degree qualification at Masters Level. Having a Masters degree is not regarded as a prerequisite to re-entering the workforce and, at present, I have no plans to extend the scheme to cover courses leading to a Masters degree.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.