Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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540. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person (details supplied) will continue to receive the one-parent family payment until they complete their final year of college; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27561/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Qualification for One Parent Family Payment (OFP) is based on the age of the youngest child in the family. Currently payment normally continues up to when the youngest child reaches seven years of age. Special provisions are in place for customers who are in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA), in these cases the OFP will remain in payment until the child for whom the DCA is paid, reaches 16 years of age. As the person concerned is in receipt of DCA, her OFP will continue until November 2018. If a person is in receipt of OFP (or Jobseeker’s Allowance Transitional payment) he/she can choose to stay on his/her current social welfare payment (if he/she continues to meet the rules of the scheme) and apply for a student grant or he/she can choose to transfer to the BTEA, depending on which option benefits the person most.

As the person concerned will no longer satisfy the OFP qualifying criteria from November 2018, she may opt for Back To Education Allowance (BTEA) in order to receive financial assistance from the Department to facilitate her towards completion of her studies. She must apply to her local INTREO office in order to be accepted on this scheme in advance of the start of the upcoming semester. The person concerned would be entitled to BTEA until the end of her course of study.

BTEA participants are eligible for support to offset the cost of the student registration fee, including other fees payable to access courses, if the BTEA participant satisfies the eligibility criteria for both. Although individuals may not be entitled to the maintenance component of the student grant, they must still submit a student grant application form to SUSI to be assessed for a fee grant to pay for Student Contribution (formerly called the student services charge), field trip costs and tuition fees (if payable). However BTEA customers cannot be in receipt of both BTEA and a Student Maintenance grant.