Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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1224.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the back-to-education allowance rates by 10%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33115/24]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1226.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost to allow part-time workers and learners to avail of the back-to-education payments. [33273/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1224 and 1226 together.

The Back to Education Allowance provides income support for jobseekers and others in receipt of certain social welfare payments who pursue full time courses of education at further and higher level. The focus of the scheme is to assist people to improve their qualifications and as a result improve their access to sustainable employment. The Government has provided €35.73 million for the scheme in 2024.

The rate for the Back to Education Allowance is based on the payment rate of the qualifying underlying payment, such as Jobseekers Allowance. Any change in payment rates for the income support schemes would be mirrored for recipients of Back to Education Allowance. The Back to Education Allowance scheme had expenditure of €31.02 million in 2023. If the payment rates were increased by 10% then it is estimated that costs of scheme would increase by €3.1 million to €34.12 million based on the number of claimants remaining the same.

Where a person receiving a Jobseeker's payment is interested in taking a part-time course, the Part-Time Education Option enables them to retain their Jobseeker's payment, provided that they continue to satisfy the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking full time employment on an on-going basis.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.