Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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404. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a further degree of flexibility can be shown in the case of a person (details supplied) in view of the fact that the qualifying criteria for the back to education allowance have been changed to reflect the difficulty faced by many prospective and current students as a result of Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41859/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Back to Education Allowance scheme (BTEA) is an educational opportunities scheme for customers in receipt of certain social welfare payments wishing to pursue second or third level courses of education, subject to meeting the qualifying conditions.

The person concerned is in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance.  In order to qualify for BTEA, a person must satisfy the qualifying period which in the case of Jobseeker’s Allowance is 234 days.

There is no provision in the rules governing entitlement to the payment of BTEA to allow a customer in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance and who has less than 234 days paid to qualify for the payment.  

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.