Seán Sherlock
Question:54. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection if she plans to amend the back to education scheme payments to take into account time spent on the pandemic unemployment payment. [14859/22]
View answerTuesday, 22 March 2022
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The Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) provides income support for jobseekers and others in receipt of certain social welfare payments who pursue courses of education at second or third level. The provision for the scheme for 2022 is €105.4 million.
A person wishing to pursue a course of study under the BTEA scheme must satisfy the conditions of the scheme, including being in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment for a specified time, pursuing a full-time course of study leading to a recognised qualification in a recognised college and progressing in the level of education.
The qualifying period for the second-level option is three months while the qualifying period for third-level courses is nine months prior to the date of commencement of the course. This qualifying period has already been waived for people coming from the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) where they must first establish an entitlement to a Jobseekers or other qualifying payment.
As the economy has now fully reopened with the removal of trading restrictions the Government has agreed the winding down of the PUP and the transfer of recipients to standard social welfare terms. PUP recipients who remain in receipt of the support at the end of this month will start transitioning to standard jobseeker terms. The BTEA scheme guidelines will be reviewed in advance of the 2022/2023 academic year and will be updated to reflect the closure of the PUP scheme.
The Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) Grant, payable by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, is the primary support for people pursuing third level education.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.