The Back To Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) scheme allows people who are in receipt of Social Welfare payments (whether Jobseeker’s Benefit, Allowance, One-Parent Family etc) become self employed while continuing to receive their Social Welfare payments.

There have been significant changes in the recent budget.

Effective from 1st May 2009

Changes to the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme

The Supplementary Budget April 2009 announced a number of changes to the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme.

• The qualifying period required for BTWEA is reduced from 2 years to 12 months provided you have an underlying entitlement to Jobseekers Allowance*.
• The amount of time you can participate on the BTWEA scheme will be reduced from 4 years to 2 years for new applicants.
• From 1 May 2009, if you have previously participated in the BTWEA scheme and exhausted your entitlement, you can participate a second time after a period of at least 5 years has elapsed.
• A new Back to Work Allowance Scheme called the Short-term Enterprise Allowance will start on 1 May 2009.

Short-Term Enterprise Allowance

• There is no qualifying period. You can get immediate access to the allowance but you must meet the qualifying conditions.
  • Conditions
    To qualify you must have an entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit** and have either 104 contributions paid in the past 2 years or qualify for statutory redundancy.
• The Short-term Enterprise Allowance will be paid to you for a maximum of 1 year. It will end when your entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit ends (that is, at either 9 months or 12 months).

If you believe you meet these conditions, you may qualify for either of these payments (Back To Work Enterprise Allowance or Short Term Enterprise Allowance).

If you live in a Partnership Area, contact your local Partnership's Enterprise Officer.

Should you live in Dublin 15, contact Niall Comber at details below.

If you live in a non-Partnership Area, you should your contact your local Social Welfare office for referral to the Department of Social and Family Affairs' Jobs Facilitator.

Click for more details of the Enterprise Service & Training.

For more details & to discuss your (potential) business, contact:

Niall Comber
Enterprise Development Officer
Blanchardstown Area Partnership
Phone 01 820 9550 / 824 7819
E-mail ncomber@bap.ie.

* Jobseeker’s Allowance

If you are aged 18 or over and unemployed, you may be paid either Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) or Jobseeker's Benefit (JB). Both payments are paid by the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA). Jobseeker's Allowance was called Unemployment Assistance; the name of the payment changed in October 2006.

You may get Jobseeker's Allowance if you don't qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit or if you have used up your entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit. In some cases, if you are only entitled to a reduced rate of Jobseeker's Benefit you may be better off on Jobseeker's Allowance. However, Jobseeker's Allowance is means-tested and your means must be below a certain level to qualify.
Click here to find out more about the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance.

You must be unemployed to get Jobseeker’s Allowance. However, you may get a proportion of your Jobseeker’s Allowance if your days at work are reduced or if you can only get part-time or casual work. Income from work will affect the amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance you get.
Click here to find out more about how income from work is assessed for Jobseeker’s Allowance.

For more details, go to www.welfare.ie or contact your local Social Welfare office.

** Jobseeker’s Benefit

Jobseeker's Benefit is a weekly payment made to people who are out of work and covered by social insurance (PRSI). Jobseeker's Benefit was called Unemployment Benefit; the name of the payment changed in 2006. If you don't qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit you may qualify for Jobseeker's Allowance.

Budget 2009 made a number of changes to Jobseeker’s Benefit:

From 15 October 2008, Jobseeker's Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 12 months to:

• New claimants who have at least 260 paid contributions
• People getting Jobseeker’s Benefit for less than 6 months on 15 October 2008 who have at least 260 paid contributions.

From 15 October 2008, Jobseeker's Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 9 months to:

• New claimants who have at least 260 paid contributions
• People getting Jobseeker’s Benefit for less than 3 months on 15 October 2008 who have less than 260 paid contributions.

For more details, go to www.welfare.ie or contact your local Social Welfare office.