Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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382. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of young person under 25 years of age that successfully applied for support under the back to work enterprise allowance scheme in 2015 and 2016, in tabular form. [18074/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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There are two schemes to assist people on certain social protection payments who wish to become self-employed, namely, the short term enterprise allowance (STEA) and the back to work enterprise allowance (BTWEA).

The STEA provides immediate access to those who qualify for jobseekers benefit wishing to set up a business. Payment under the scheme is at the same rate and for the same duration as their entitlement to jobseekers benefit. The BTWEA is designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are on social welfare payments to develop a business while allowing them to retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment over two years – 100% in year 1 and 75% in year 2.

Information on the number o f young persons (under 25 years) that successfully applied for support under the two schemes in 2015 and 2016 is set out in the table overleaf.

BTWEA & STEA applicants (under 25) in payment - 2015 & 2016