Ms Br?d O'Brien:

I am grateful for and welcome the opportunity to speak to the committee. One of the key messages in the report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare was the acknowledgement that:

The adequacy of social welfare rates in central to poverty reduction. Regular benchmarking exercises for working-age payments should be undertaken, which would set multi-annual targets for progress in rates.

The committee has asked us to comment on four chapters. I will touch on those briefly. We sent our submission to the committee in January. Chapter 9 relates to promoting enterprise. It was striking that the chapter focused on the tax system. For people who are unemployed, particularly those who find it difficult to access employment because of barriers to their access, self-employment can be an important route. In that regard, the back-to-work enterprise allowance is an important support for people. We would like to see that allowance improved. It is regrettable that it was not deatl with in the report. We feel it would be very much in keeping with some of the Government's aims in the economic recovery plan to introduce a range of measures to support young people, disadvantaged groups and people distant from the labour market to find employment.

There is, in chapter 10, an acknowledgment that a coherent approach is required to the design of the taxation and welfare systems. One of the issues that comes up regularly in our work is the complexity of our social welfare system. This situation, coupled with uncertainty about how the taxation system might impact an unemployed person seeking to move from a welfare payment into work, can make such a move challenging. It is a challenge that can be exacerbated if the only available work does not have a regular pattern, leading to income uncertainty and insecurity.

Our tax and welfare systems must adopt a strong proactive attitude to information dissemination, seeking to ensure that all people living and working in Ireland is aware of their rights and entitlements, what they can seek and where, what information and documentation is required of them to engage with the tax or welfare systems. Though online engagement will be more conducive for many to facilitate such provision, it will be essential that people for whom online engagement is not feasible have full access to meaningful supports and services.

The report also acknowledges the role of social protection in times of major economic shock in smoothing out issues for people. The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated how flexible and supportive public administration can be and the impact it can have. The roll-out of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, was unprecedented in its scale and speed. It and the enhanced illness benefit payment provided timely and much better income supports to people who would otherwise have struggled at a very difficult and challenging time.

Later in chapter 10, the commission notes, "Over the past decade, there has been a clear policy of developing the PES in line with international thinking that, for people of working age, social protection systems should be more ‘active’ i.e. provide support to jobseekers finding employment, as well as providing benefits." The downside to this approach is that the public employment service becomes more interlinked with certain social welfare payments, in particular jobseeker's payments, the only payments to which "genuinely seeking work" criteria apply. Such an approach does not lend itself to developing a person-centred service inclusive of all people of working age, leaving people who are unemployed and not in receipt of a payment or job changes outside of most labour market supports. This can be a particular issue for women but in more recent times it has also been a particular issue for men who come to the end of jobseeker's benefit.

The commission also notes, "There must be a capacity to respond to greater demand for training and support where people are unemployed due to sectoral decline, where tasks are transferred to automated processes." This is a challenge that will also arise as Ireland seeks to decarbonise its economy. Over recent years, INOU affiliated organisations have noted that as good jobs are lost in their areas, alternative employment too often has inferior pay, terms and conditions. Such a scenario not only throws up difficulties at the personal, familial and communal levels, but it also presents tax and welfare challenges. We need to address these issues as we move forward.

In respect of the promotion of employment, access to good social welfare and employment supports and services is critical, not only for people who are unemployed but for Ireland’s social and economic development. In a changing world of work, everyone of working age needs to be able to access good information and supports to make informed and sustainable decisions.

The commission notes, in consideration of the public employment service, that, "Jobseekers are not a homogenous cohort and the requirements of other cohorts may be even more diverse, requiring a range of responses from the PES." This is absolutely true. It is essential that the recognition of this diversity is informed by the public sector equality and human rights duty.

A report we did a few years ago considered what a quality public employment service would do. Key aspects we noted were clear communication, a positive approach, proactive support, building relationships and networking, co-operation and building links with employers. We need to ensure, as we move forward, that the system demonstrates that it believes in the potential and capacity of the person, that it engages with people and supports them to make an informed choice.

Chapter 12 relates to inclusive and integrated social protection. The report notes the important role that social protection plays in people's lives. One of the principles it notes is the mitigation and sharing of risk across society.

Social protection acts as a safety net for those who are at risk of poverty. It follows, therefore, that social welfare rates must be adequate in order to provide such a safety net effectively. The INOU feels that this is absolutely critical. We feel that the actions taken during the pandemic crisis highlighted the importance of good and adequate social welfare rates. A key learning for us arose as the economy and labour market reopened and people went back to work. The lesson was that not impoverishing people is critical to supporting them to be able to return to work. Therefore, we really need a social welfare system that is adequate, lifts people above the poverty line and ensures they can meet a minimum essential standard of living, MESL. We cite the very important done by the Vincentian MESL Research Centre in that regard.

For a good number of years, the INOU has called for the introduction of a work-friendly social welfare system that is reflective of changing work practices that are based on hours rather than days. In December, the Department of Social Protection launched its consultation. This time around, it primarily focused on pay-related benefits but it also floated the idea of a working age payment, which was initially raised in Pathways to Work. While it is an interesting proposal, we believe a lot more work needs to be done around how it would develop. It would be in keeping with some of the recommendations in this chapter of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare report. Likewise, with regard to the pay-related benefit, again what is proposed is pay-related up to a point. Again, it has caps. We would be concerned at the further cut in duration of jobseekers' benefit. In the 2008 crisis, the duration of jobseekers' benefit was cut quite considerably and that has never been reinstated. That has particular implications for unemployed people who do not make the transition to jobseekers' allowance and then find themselves outside of supports. Again, we feel that some of these proposals, which were also reflected in the Commission on Taxation and Welfare report, would need to be reconsidered because they could have detrimental effects for those who are unemployed and might not be eligible for jobseekers' allowance. I thank the committee.