Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:1175. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of reversing cuts to the back to education allowance. [41247/21]
View answerTuesday, 27 July 2021
Questions (1175)
Written answers
The Back to Education Allowance Scheme (BTEA) is designed to support second chance education. It enables eligible persons to pursue education and to continue to receive their weekly income support for the duration of a course of study. The main focus of the BTEA is to assist qualifying applicants to improve their educational qualifications and improve their prospects of gaining employment.
There has been are approximately 6,400 students supported through the BTEA for the 2020/2021 academic year. Government has provided €96.5 million for BTEA in 2021. This represents a considerable investment in supporting all unemployed individuals.
The BTEA is not intended to provide funding for student fees. The Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) Grant, payable by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, represents the primary support for people pursuing third level education and its administration is a matter for that Department
The appropriate rate of payment for all social welfare schemes, including the BTEA scheme, is considered by Government in the context of the Budget and the availability of resources. The weekly rate of payment is linked to the persons' underlying payment, for example jobseeker's allowance, and all budget increases in these rates are applied to Back to Education Allowance recipients. Any rate changes would have to be considered in a budgetary context and within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.
This Government has not introduced any cuts to the BTEA scheme. In fact, under the July Job Stimulus, the scheme was expanded to allow recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment to become eligible. Furthermore, under the recently-announced Pathways to Work Strategy 2021-2025, the number of available places under the scheme has been increased to 7,700.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.