Ivor Callely
Question:31 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of recipients of lone parent's allowance attending second level and third level education or availing of any second chance education programme.
Written Answers. - Lone Parent's Allowance.
Lone parents who choose to continue their education are entitled to continue to receive their lone parent's allowance without restriction. My Department does not maintain statistics on the number of lone parent's allowance recipients who are in second or third level education or who attend second-chance education programmes.
I am committed to ensuring that lone parents are encouraged to further their education and improve their employment prospects. In particular, I am examining the options for extending access to the vocational opportunities and third level allowance schemes to lone parents. These schemes currently enable long term unemployed people to pursue second-chance education at both second and third level, either on a full-time or part-time basis, without affecting their social welfare payments.