Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 October 2004
255 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of formerly unemployed persons that availed of the back to education allowance in 2003; and the number that are in receipt of the allowance for the 2004-5 academic year. [26532/04]
View answerThe back to education allowance is a second chance education opportunities programme designed to encourage and facilitate people on certain social welfare payments to improve their skills and qualifications and, therefore, their prospects of returning to the active work force.
During the 2003-04 academic year there were 5,732 participants in the back to education allowance scheme who were previously in receipt of an unemployment payment. Applications for the 2004-05 are still being processed and to date 5,350 persons formerly in receipt of an unemployment payment have been approved for participation in the scheme.
256 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the financial support currently available to help lone parents to re-enter the workforce; and if he will introduce a new back to work scheme to support them. [26533/04]
View answerThe main financial support available to lone parents is the one parent family payment which was introduced in 1997 to replace a number of schemes which catered for different categories of lone parent. These schemes included lone parents allowance, deserted wife's benefit and the non-contributory widow and widower's pension for those with dependent children.
The one-parent family payment is based on the need for social welfare support for parents with children where a person has not secured adequate, or any maintenance from the spouse or the other parent. One of the objectives of the scheme is to encourage lone parents to consider employment as an alternative to welfare dependency, while at the same time supporting them to remain in the home if they so wish. It is generally accepted that one of the most effective routes out of poverty for people in the active age groups is through paid employment.
The main element of this policy is an earnings disregard of €146.50 per week. Earnings above this limit are assessed at 50%, up to a maximum of €293 per week. The earnings disregard is designed to facilitate lone parents in entering or re-entering the workforce by enabling them retain entitlement to their payments until they become established in employment. It also facilitates them in availing of training opportunities to prepare them for employment. Lone parents who exceed the upper income limit applying under the scheme may qualify for the family income supplement. This scheme is designed to provide income support for employees on low earnings with children. It helps to "make work pay" for employees with children in circumstances where otherwise they might only be marginally better off in work than if claiming other social welfare payments. The employment support services currently in place in my Department offer a number of options which are designed to assist certain social welfare recipients, including lone parents, return to work. These options are provided through the Department's locally based facilitators who assist people to access work, training or further education.
The back to education allowance scheme is a second chance educational opportunities programme designed to encourage and facilitate unemployed people, lone parents and people with disabilities to improve their skills and qualifications with a view to returning to the workforce. Courses covered under the scheme range from second level through to third level courses of study. Persons awarded the allowance receive a standard weekly rate of payment equivalent to the relevant social welfare payment prior to participation. An annual cost of education allowance of €254 is also payable. Almost 1,300 lone parents availed of the scheme in the 2003-04 academic year.
The back to work allowance scheme is designed to assist the return to work by allowing persons to retain a reducing rate of their social welfare payment over a three-year period, when they take up employment, or four years, if entering self-employment. The allowance is payable to employees at 75% in year one, 50% in year two, and 25% in year three. For those engaged in self employment the allowance is payable at 100% in the first year and at 75%, 50%, and 25%, respectively, over the following three years. There are currently 1,204 lone parents on the scheme, 337 of whom are self employed. The impact and effectiveness of these provisions and schemes is being kept under review, in pursuit of the commitment given in my Department's statement of strategy to review the income support arrangements for lone parents. The main purpose of the review is to establish the extent to which obstacles remain to recipients taking up employment. Account will be taken in the review of the research carried out to date, not least the review of the one parent family payment, published by my Department in September 2000 and the OECD review of family-friendly policies, "Babies and Bosses" Volume II, published in November 2003, which contained a detailed analysis of the position in Ireland from a cross-country perspective. The entire OECD study is currently being finalised and conclusions and recommendations, which will inform my Department's review, are expected shortly. Account is also being taken of policies and programmes pursued in other EU countries, as set out in their national action plans on social inclusion.
