John Ellis
Question:192 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will sanction participation in the students' summer jobs scheme in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Leitrim. [10800/96]
Written Answers. - Students' Summer Jobs Scheme.
The underlying purpose of the summer students' jobs scheme is to provide income support for the less well-off third level students who are disqualified from receiving unemployment assistance and are unable to obtain summer work.
Taking account of the upward trend in the number of students participating in the scheme since its inception, priority this year is being given to enabling the maximum number of eligible students, who have no other means of support, to take part within the allocation for the 1996 scheme which is £10.2 million.
The main focus of the scheme this year is to provide places for students who are disqualified from claiming unemployment assistance. Students who still have a legal right to claim unemployment assistance during the summer (such as students who have completed their courses) are not deprived of income support and therefore are not eligible for the scheme.
As the person concerned will complete a course of studies at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, in June she is entitled to claim unemployment assistance if she cannot find work during the summer period. For the reasons already stated, she is not, therefore, eligible to participate in the scheme.