Social Welfare, Rent Allowance, Back to Education Allowance?

account2015

This is going to be a bit long but if anyone could take the time to read this and let me know what you guys/gals think.

Ok, so basically I was in college 1st year and receiving the SUSI student grant. During Second year I became very sick I spent 3 months in hospital getting test after test done, because of this I missed my Semester 3 exams. I was then told by my consultant in the hospital that there was an extremely high likelihood I have lymphoma (A form of cancer).

I was then told I would have to do some final test and I was told all the methods in which I could fight this cancer, an additional 5 and a half months that I was falsely diagnosed, My symptoms subsided but have not completely disappeared.

I am now medically fit for work. Yet I have failed my exams and cannot return to college due to finances not being available to me.

I have been on the social welfare for 7 months, my older brother has kindly let me stay in the spare room of his apartment, during this time have been doing nothing but applying for jobs. As I have no real qualifications and no transport I have been finding it extremely difficult to get work.

Now that my brother and his girlfriend are expecting there first child they need the room for the child.

Now, I do not have the money to support myself on the social welfare, have no job, no way of getting a higher education and no-where to live.

Can anyone advise me on what I should do?

I want to go back to college if at all possible, but I think that may just be a wild dream at this point in my life.

Any information on where I could go from here would be really appreciated i.e Rent allowance? back to education allowance? can I apply for them, would I be eligible etc?

TL;DR I was falsely diagnosed with cancer, dropped out of college, have no money and no-where to live. what are my options?

Conall Cernach

I think you wold be entitled to BTEA and Rent Allowance as you have been on social welfare but BTEA is not accepted in all courses.

Ixayek_usurper

Housing
First thing you need to do is sort out your money/accommodation.
Find out where your nearest Citizens Info centre is and go in and talk to them; they will more than likely direct you to your local Community Welfare Officer (CWO) who will assess your housing need.
Where were you living before you moved in with your brother?
In order to qualify for Rent Allowance you need to have been living in private rented accommodation (or social/homeless housing) for 6 of the last 12 months (non-consecutively) <b>or</b> be assessed as having a housing need by your local CWO. That needs to be your first priority.

College
1) return to your course
Normally, college's make allowances for extreme circumstances and, if you spoke with them and could prove your recent health issues, they would allow you to repeat the year that you failed and waver the fee.
The only problem you would have then is supporting yourself for the year.

1a) College Assistance Fund
Most colleges have a fund that is available for ppl who are struggling to support themselves. It is given freely with the understanding that at some point later in life you would look to give a contribution back to the college.
When you are in with them discussing your options, they will most likely bring all of this up and look to sort you out.

1b) SUSI
Normally they won't provide funding for a repeat year but they do make exceptions. Give them a call and see what they say. Read up on the legislation first.

2) BTEA
As Cormac said above it is not accepted for all courses.
With BTEA you need to be starting a new course. I would imagine you'd prefer to do the course you originally chose?
That probably won't be an option with BTEA; best bet would be a course that is similar to the course you have already completed a year on but, be warned, with the BTEA option, the government don't cover your course fee for years you've already completed and the BTEA never cover your student contribution.
Basically, if you start a new course and apply for BTEA, you might have to pay a fee nearing 5g's for the first year.
(for the years afterward: you will be definitely be ok for your 3rd and 4th year but whether you'll have to pay a fee for your 2nd year all depends on how you exited/deregistered {if, at all} so I can't say anything concrete on that. )

Also, there are other requirements for BTEA that you can read about on Citizens Info site.

There are other options such as BlueBrick courses and Springboard that you should have a look into, but your first priority needs to be your housing situation.

My heart goes out to you man. I can understand a lot of what your going through.
Best of luck.

account2015

Thanks for all the information, it has been very helpful, sorry for the late reply.