Vol. 541 No. 2
1164 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that persons aged 65 are being turned away from vocational training opportunity courses; his views on whether this is discriminatory; the steps he will take to make it clear to the organisers of these courses that there should be no age barrier; and if he will amend the terms of all back to education allowances accordingly. [22443/01]
The vocational training opportunities scheme was designed for long-term unemployed people. The main objective of the scheme is to provide second-chance education and training opportunities which will develop their employability. This full-time scheme is confined to adults over 21 who are in receipt of unemployment assistance/benefit, a one-parent family payment, disability allowance/benefit or signing for credits. A person must be in receipt of one of the above allowances for at least six months in order to be eligible to join VTOS. Dependent spouses of these categories are also eligible for the programme. A training allowance is paid in lieu of welfare entitlements.
As the scheme was specifically designed to address the needs of those who are unemployed, there are no plans to extend it to those over 65. However, there are no age barriers governing free participation on full-time PLC courses for those who wish to do so.
