Surge in welfare recipients seeking education allowance

THERE has been a massive surge in the number of people on social welfare accessing a special payment to go back to education.

Figures from the Department of Social and Family Affairs show an 88% increase in those receiving the back-to-education allowance (BTEA) scheme, rising from 10,854 at the end of November 2008 to 20,418 at the end of November 2009.

The BTEA plan is for unemployed people, lone parents and people with disabilities who are getting certain welfare payments.

However concerns have been raised over inadequacies in the scheme, such as its lack of compatibility with the academic year, the length of time an applicant must be unemployed to qualify, and restricted access for those who already have third-level qualifications.

Labour’s spokeswoman on social and family affairs Roisín Shortall said qualifying criteria for the scheme were very outdated and did not meet the needs of the newly unemployed.

Ms Shortall said Minister Hanafin should consider sitting down with some of the groups who work with unemployed people to try and identify barriers currently preventing them from participating in training.

Defending the scheme, the minister said the maximum rate of the back-to-education allowance was more than double the maximum rate of the maintenance grant available to third-level students from the lowest income families.

Therefore, she said, it could be considered unfair if a young person could finish school, work for a couple of years and then secure three years worth of BTEA support after being unemployed for only a very short time, while another young person who went straight from school into third-level would get far less financial support.