Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The information about credits was mentioned. It is not just the information that is in issue. Many people who are the subject of a qualified adult allowance - obviously someone else receives it - do not know the consequences of that. When the partner goes down to claim a social welfare payment in the first instance, he or she is asked who else is in the house and says "my spouse". It is usually a wife. That is a qualified adult. Nobody ever explains that there is a consequence for her to be a qualified adult rather than to have a payment in her own right. Nobody says she would be limited by not being able to access these job activation measures. Where there is a policy change in the Department on eligibility criteria, an information campaign should be in place to inform people of the option to individualise a claim and the restrictions as a consequence of not doing so.

In terms of credits, I have continuously encouraged people to sign on for credits. The incidents where people are not permitted to must be addressed. At the very least, if a person is unemployed and cannot receive a payment, he or she should be able to receive a credit. Perhaps, the credit should be the mechanism for eligibility rather than the payment. There are people who to all intents and purposes should qualify for CE, but because they are not in receipt of a payment, they cannot. I have encouraged some of the social protection workers to give a peppercorn payment of 5 cent so that those people would be in receipt of a payment which would allow them to access job activation. I know it would be an administrative nightmare but these people are not looking for a huge amount of money, they just want access to the courses so they can get back into the system. That is some of what underlines what I have said.

The other thing to remember is that much of what we are looking for is voluntary. Many people who are qualified adults are happy in that position. However, there are those who are looking for changes. To clarify my earlier point, if a person's time as a qualified adult could be taken into account, it would be a major shift and a welcome announcement from the Department. It might be that a certain period as a qualified adult would be required as an initial step, but in any event it would help a lot of women in particular who want access to community employment and JobPlus, though not JobBridge, with which I do not agree.