Students’ unions and homeless mother of one Erica Fleming are calling on the government to address inconsistencies in education stipends after Fleming was denied the Back to Education Allowance following being offered a place in Trinity.
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) have written two separate open letters addressed to the Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar. The unions called for urgent action on the situation which they state reveals inconsistencies and loopholes in the system, a system which “an unemployed single parent who is raising her child in a hotel could be deemed ineligible for education supports”.
Fleming, a mother of one who has lived in a hotel since June 2015, was offered a place in College through the Trinity Access Programme (TAP). However, she was informed last Friday that she did not qualify for the Back to Education Allowance, a weekly stipend available for those who which to return to education and, in the case of higher education, have been unemployed for at least nine months.
Fleming was refused the grant as she has been working part-time.
Since 2015, single parents who return to education have not been able to claim a student maintenance grant if they are in receipt of another social welfare payment. With the new system, Fleming was transferred to the Family Income Supplement, a payment give to low-income households working over 19 hours per week, and thus was not eligible for the Back to Education Allowance.
The move was criticised at the time by then-TCDSU President Lynn Ruane, who stated that the move was “contradictory of the government objectives to reduce social welfare dependence”.
It is this policy that Fleming is calling for a review of. Speaking on RTÉ’s Ryan Tubridy’s show yesterday, Fleming called on Varadkar “to see the logic in sending us back to third level education, to give us the opportunity to get out of poverty”.
Fleming’s campaign has seen her focus on how the current system could affect others in similar situations, and she has stated that, if no solution can be found, she will be unable to progress with her education as planned.
In his open letter, TCDSU President, Kieran McNulty, called for this policy to be changed: “It was a thoughtless cut which harms those who are trying to access education, to make a positive change, both to their lives and to society.”
