Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection

Activation Services and Supports for the Unemployed: Discussion

1:00 pm

Mr. Niall Egan:

It is a similar basis. From an assistance perspective, in terms of our working age payments, to satisfy the means test the household income is taken into account. As Mr. McKeon has outlined, where a household income is in excess of the threshold, an adult dependant would not qualify for a payment in their own right. Our primary role is to provide income support. Under the jobseeker's allowance scheme, that person or household is deemed to have sufficient means. As Mr. McKeon alluded to in his presentation and as referenced, however, that person can access the vast majority of supports of our Intreo office, although admittedly not all of them. When a person participates in an education and training course, it is currently the situation that he or she will not qualify for a training allowance payment. I must be clear about that. It may have been Ms O'Brien who referenced the fact this changed in 2012 in terms of entitlement to a welfare payment indicated or was a passport to get an entitlement to an education and training board allowance or a FÁS training allowance as it was then.