Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Jobseeker's allowance is a means tested payment and the manner in which means are to be assessed is set out in the third Schedule of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. In most such cases, a social welfare inspector will interview the claimant to ascertain the means of the applicant. The Department of Social and Family Affairs also produces administrative guidelines to assist inspectors in this task, which are supplemented from time to time to take account of changing legislation or circumstances. Legislation provides that a person's income in the coming 12 months is the basis of his or her means. The means assessment guidelines state that where the income in the coming 12 months is not otherwise ascertainable, which is usually the case, the income for the past 12 months should be taken as a guide, allowing for any factors which it is known will vary. However, it was always the case that where an applicant had ceased self-employment and he or she could show that his or her income in the coming 12 months was likely to be greatly reduced in light of personal or economic circumstances, inspectors and deciding officers would take account of this.

As I have just outlined to the House, the Department issued a circular in May 2008 advising inspectors that in light of the changed economic climate it would generally be the case that less work would be available to a claimant in the foreseeable future. Inspectors were advised that they should apply their knowledge of local conditions to arrive at a fair assessment of a person's income from self-employment in the coming 12 months. Where a self-employed person's situation changes after he or she has made an initial claim for jobseeker's allowance, he or she can apply to have his or her means reviewed. In addition, it is open to the individual, if he or she is dissatisfied with the means assessed, to make an appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

It is important to remember that people who have urgent income support needs can apply for the means tested supplementary welfare allowance and more than 95% of basic social welfare allowance applications are decided on and paid within a week. I appreciate the need to ensure that claimants who have been self-employed and whose income is significantly affected by the economic down turn receive their full and fair entitlements in a timely manner and I assure the House we are doing our best to achieve this.

See this speech in context