Agreed. The second petition for consideration is No. P00043/12, from a Mr. Thomas Kevin Walsh, concerning the current eligibility criteria for the back to education allowance for attending third level education. A summary note on the petition concerned and also the research carried out has been circulated to members. In order to qualify for the third level option on the back to education allowance, in addition to a number of other qualifying conditions, a person must have been in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment for a minimum of 234 days. As the petitioner has been in receipt of jobseeker's benefit for only 126 days, his application for the back to education allowance was disallowed and the petitioner requested a review of this case. Following the review, the original decision remained unchanged. The petitioner is of the opinion that the regulations with regard to eligibility for the allowance for third level education are structured, either by accident or design, to prevent individuals such as himself from availing of the allowance, and he wants to see them changed. The recommendation is that the committee write to the Minister for Social Protection on the petitioner's behalf asking her to explain the rationale for the design of the scheme - that is, the requirement for applicants to have been in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment for a minimum of 234 days for third level courses - and asking whether there are any plans to change these requirements in the near future.
