Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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441. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if a back to education claim by a person (details supplied) will be reviewed in view of their particular circumstances and the length of time they were on jobseeker's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10307/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The objective of the Back to Education Allowance (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.

To qualify for BTEA a person has to satisfy a number of conditions. These include being a certain age and being in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment for a specified time immediately before the person starts their course. The person concerned was not in receipt of a payment from the Department prior to her application and on this basis she did not qualify for BTEA.

The person concerned was advised of her right to have this decision reviewed and called to the Dunfanaghy INTREO Centre shortly after she received her letter. The claim was reexamined and the qualifying criteria and disallowance reason was explained to her at that time.

I hope that clarifies the matter for the Deputy.