Thousands extra would qualify for back to work allowance under Labour Plan
Issued : Saturday 17 April, 2010
Statement by Roisin Shortall TD
Minister of State, Department of Health with responsibility for Primary Care
The Labour Party would overhaul the rules for the Back to Education Allowance to allow thousands more people to qualify.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Galway, spokesperson on Social Protection, Róisín Shortall T.D. explained that under current arrangements an unemployed person who does not qualify for statutory redundancy typically has to wait for 12 months before they can avail of the third level option under the scheme. Ms. Shortall said that the Labour Party in Government would reduce the minimum waiting period to three months.
Deputy Shortall said: "This is a ludicrous rule. It's the same rule that applied before the recession. It didn't make much sense then and it makes even less now. Making people wait 12 months is an incentive to remain unemployed until the eligibility criteria are fulfilled. It encourages welfare dependency rather than prevents it.
"But the waiting time is not the only problem.
* The scheme is completely incompatible with the academic year and the CAO application process.
* In most cases, you can't avail of the scheme if you already have a primary degree, even if that degree is now worthless to you in the current jobs market.
* And the scheme allows people to pursue higher diplomas but generally not Masters degrees, when the courses are often the same duration and are considered equal under the national framework of qualifications.
"The over-riding criteria that should be applied to the scheme is - would another qualification help with that person's job prospects? Yet that common sense approach is missing.
"One in three of our young men are unemployed - one in six of our young women. We should be pulling out all the stops to provide greater opportunities. Cutting the waiting time for Back to Education Allowance and reforming the rules is absolutely essential."
