Under section 172(1) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, people in full-time education are not eligible to receive assistance, including rent supplements, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. However, Article 7 of S.I. 382 of 1995 provides for a number of exceptions to this exclusion. Persons participating in a vocational training opportunities scheme; a second level initiative scheme; a third level allowance scheme; and a part-time education initiative scheme may continue to receive their full weekly social welfare payment and may retain any secondary benefits, such as rent supplements under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which they may have been receiving prior to participating on one of these schemes.
Until recently, successful applicants for the vocational training opportunities scheme, the second level initiative scheme and the third level allowance scheme had to be at least 23 years of age and had to have been in receipt of an unemployment payment or lone parent's allowance for at least 12 months. However, last year I announced an improvement to the qualifying conditions for these schemes. The age requirement has been reduced to 21 years of age and applicants need only be in receipt of an unemployment payment or lone parent's allowance for six months to qualify for the schemes and, therefore, rent allowance if they were in receipt of such allowance at the time of applying.
The cost of extending entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance rent supplements to all lone parents in full-time education would have resource implications which I am unable to meet at present but I intend to keep the matter under review.