Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 21 Nov 2012

Vol. 218 No. 11

Adjournment Matters

Back to Education Allowance Appeals

Senator Mary Moran

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for coming to the House. I look forward to hearing his comments on the plight of a constituent of mine in Dundalk. The lady in question obtained a third level qualification in 2000. Unfortunately, after working for several years she was made redundant and has been on jobseeker's allowance since then. Commendably, she decided that rather than sit at home and do nothing she would go back to college to pursue a further education course. She applied for a course but was refused the back to education allowance because the qualification she holds at present is higher than the course for which she had applied in Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, in September. I understand the reasons for the decision and that is not in question. However, she was also refused the student grant from SUSI. The decision is under appeal at the moment. As a result, the lady concerned has had to leave the course she started in September with high hopes. She has been forced to leave the course and return to the dole queue as she has no other income. I commend the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, on the work she is doing with JobBridge in the area but I also understand the situation the person in question is in at present. She wishes to improve her education and increase her job prospects but the system does not seem to allow for that.

Currently, people are thankfully more aware of mental health issues. It is important that we take the mental health issues of such people into consideration. This lady wants to work. She wants to improve her education and is totally despondent at having no other option but to go back on the dole. I would be grateful if the Minister of State could pass on my concerns to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, and ask for a review in situations such as this to ensure that people wishing to return to education, even if the qualification is lower than the one they already hold, are entitled to supports to ensure that they can improve their education. This lady is being penalised for being too highly qualified in the first place. If she had no third level qualification she would have qualified for the back to education allowance. I understand that if the qualification one holds is higher than the current course then one does not qualify for the allowance, but the system should provide for assistance in such cases because of the many people in a similar situation to the case I have outlined who want to come off the dole queue and improve themselves in order to get a job. I accept there are systems in place but we must examine the situation outlined whereby this person applied for a course and began to attend a college but was forced to leave it and go back on the dole queue.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Alex White)

I thank Senator Moran for raising this issue. The Department of Social Protection has estimated expenditure of more than €960 million on employment supports in 2012. This substantial expenditure, which is against a backdrop of significant fiscal consolidation, underlines the Government's commitment to enhancing support for activation and assisting people return to employment. As outlined in Pathways to Work, the Department will offer job placements, work experience, training and education initiatives to 85,650 people in 2012.

Included in the supports available is the back to education allowance, BTEA, scheme which is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third level education. A person wishing to pursue BTEA will have to satisfy a number of conditions such as being a certain age, in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment for a specified time period, pursuing a full-time course of study leading to a recognised qualification in a recognised college and progressing in the level of education held by the client with reference to the national framework of qualifications among others. The BTEA scheme covers a large range of full-time courses of education in approved colleges spanning basic foundation courses to third level courses across all disciplines.

As the Senator outlined, the Department received an application for the back to education allowance from the person in question. The application was refused on the grounds that the course did not lead to a higher qualification on the national framework of qualifications than that already held. The person concerned was notified in writing of the reason that she did not so qualify. The BTEA guidelines are in the main in line with the mechanisms in place for student support-type schemes administered by the Department of Education and Skills. Progression in education is a condition which is not unique to BTEA, indeed State support for education purposes is grounded on a student progressing from one qualification level to a higher one. That is necessary to ensure displacement does not occur, in that courses could be offered to students who are not progressing at the cost of students progressing from a lower education level.

Resources allocated and numbers supported via BTEA have increased steadily in recent years. It is estimated that more than €200 million will be spent on BTEA in 2012, compared with the position in 2008, for example, when just over €77 million was spent on the scheme. Some 25,700 participants were supported in the 2011-12 academic year which represents a significant 120% increase compared to the 2008-09 academic year. It is expected that numbers availing of the scheme for the current academic year will be similar to last year.

If a person wishes to pursue a part-time education course they may be able to do so while retaining their jobseeker's payment under the part-time education option, PTEO, of the back to education programme. An example of courses that may be pursued under the PTEO are the 6,000 part-time higher education places for unemployed people made available under the Springboard initiative announced earlier this year by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. In addition, the Department also supports the provision of a wide variety of training through networks of private sector companies, in a range of sectors and regions, supported by Skillnets Limited via the PTEO.

It should also be noted that FÁS, as the national training authority, anticipates the needs of, and responds to, a constantly changing labour market. It strives to do this through the provision of tailored training programmes that suit various needs and access to many training programmes is not determined by a person's welfare status. The Department is currently reviewing a wide range of activation supports available to DSP customers, including BTEA, and it is the intention to canvass the views of stakeholders as part of the implementation process resulting from the review.

Senator Mary Moran

I am afraid that the response does not progress the query I have any further. Perhaps I should also outline that the lady was refused the student maintenance grant because she was in receipt of jobseeker's allowance, but she was not in receipt of it because she had to forgo it in order to go back to education. The current appeal process for SUSI, which I accept relates to a different Department, has meant she has had to drop out of college. We should be trying to help people. It affects a person's mental health when they want to further their education but they are left in a position where they cannot.

Deputy Alex White

I understand the issue the Senator raised because I am familiar with it. I have come across it myself. The difficulty is that when a regime and set of requirements are in place it is difficult to see how they can be set aside in any individual case, but that does not take from the strength of the case the Senator made for the individual concerned. I will communicate what the Senator said to the Minister.

Senator Mary Moran

By the time the appeal is dealt with by SUSI the course could be over.

Deputy Alex White

I know. I will communicate those sentiments to the Minister.

Senator Mary Moran

I thank the Minister of State.

Medical Card Reviews

Senator Jimmy Harte

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White. I have already spoken to him on the issue previously. It has been estimated that approximately 7,000 letters were received, mainly by pensioners in the Inishowen area of Donegal. The information I received on the ground is that the letters were received mainly by pensioners whose review date on the card in many cases specified 2015 but they were informed their cases would be reviewed in 2013. In addition, some people were issued with cards that have a review date of 2035, which is a long time.

I wonder whether the issue of medical cards with the expiry date of 2035 is a computer mistake or an action by the Department. I have spoken to constituents in Donegal who are concerned. I have advised them to supply the requested information and it is hoped they will not be refused a medical card. My reason for raising this matter is to ascertain whether this is a HSE western region policy, a national HSE policy or just an isolated incident. Clarification is required. The period leading up to the budget will result in uncertainty and scaremongering. People who believe they are entitled to the medical card are afraid to reply in case their card will be jeopardised.

Deputy Alex White

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. As the Senator is aware, a new medical card scheme for persons aged 70 years or over was introduced with effect from 1 January 2009. Under this scheme, a person who is ordinarily resident in the State qualifies for a medical card so long as his or her gross income does not exceed the means test income limit. The income limit for a single person is €700 per week. The relevant income limit for a couple is €1,400 per week.

Under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, as amended, determination of eligibility for a medical card is the responsibility of the HSE. The HSE has produced national assessment guidelines to provide a clear framework to assist the making of reasonable, consistent and equitable decisions when assessing an applicant. These guidelines are publicly available and can be downloaded from the HSE's medical card website.

The standard procedure for the review of medical cards for persons aged 66 years or older is that their medical card will be reviewed every four years. For persons under the age of 66 years, the period of validity of a medical card is three years.

In the interest of fairness between medical cardholders, it is important that all people aged 70 or over are treated in like manner by the HSE. The HSE recently carried out an examination of its national medical card database. It found that some medical cards have expiry periods of more than four years and, in some cases, ten years or more. On foot of this examination, the HSE has identified about 7,000 medical cardholders throughout the country who have not been reviewed for ten years or more. Consequently, the HSE has started to contact these individuals. The HSE has sent review forms to approximately 1,500 people so far. While this is part of a nationwide exercise, the HSE has indicated that the majority of the people to whom it has written thus far, live in the HSE's north-west region, which includes County Donegal. The HSE will write to the remaining individuals over the coming weeks. Those individuals who have not been reviewed for ten years are being asked to complete a full review. However, the medical cards that they currently hold will not expire before January 2013 in order to give sufficient time for the forms to be completed.

Any medical cardholder undergoing a review for a renewed medical card, who genuinely engages with the HSE in that review, will not have his or her entitlement withdrawn before the review is complete, regardless of the expiry date shown on the medical card. In cases where a decision is made not to grant a medical card, the applicant will be informed of the decision and notified of his or her right to appeal this decision. Contact details for the appeals office are provided to the applicant with that decision. Where a person submits an appeal to a decision not to renew a medical card within 21 days of that decision, he or she will retain the medical card until the appeal is decided. In conclusion, all efforts are being made to deal with the individuals properly, fairly and impartially.

Senator Jimmy Harte

I thank the Minister of State for the explanation. I ask him to revert to me regarding the medical cards with the date of 2035 and the number of such cards which have been issued. Were they issued as a result of a glitch in the system? I know of a person with a medical card dated 2035. The person concerned is eligible for a medical card. I ask if the Minister of State's Department could issue a local notice about this matter in County Donegal or the north-west region. The perception in Donegal was that the county was being targeted as this problem did not arise in other areas. For example, people in Sligo did not have this problem. I ask if the Minister of State could give some good news to people in Donegal before the budget.

Deputy Alex White

It may be as much related to the assiduous manner in which the Senator conducts his business in respect of contacts being made in Donegal that these issues have been brought to our attention. I will pursue the issue by way of supplementary inquiries. I was not aware - and I do not think it was reflected in the Senator's original question although he makes the point now - that some cards have been issued with that long period of validity and an expiry date of 2035. I will make inquiries because I would like to know the details of how the system works and how cards are dated with such a long expiry date. I emphasise the importance of the advice which the Senator gave to his constituents that individuals should co-operate by supplying the information sought. I would expect they would be treated in Donegal or in any part of the country, sensitively, properly and fairly. The Senator knows he can contact me if I can be of any further assistance in that regard.

The Seanad adjourned at 7.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.