Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will concentrate in the limited time available on two issues that need reform. The first issue is in the area of jobseeker's benefit for the self-employed. It is something I feel strongly about. I was self-employed before I went into politics. We need to have parity of treatment. If the business of someone who is self-employed fails, it is a traumatic time. In that situation, the person does not qualify for jobseeker's benefit and must apply for jobseeker's allowance which can take a considerable amount of time. The issue has been examined by the Department and by the Minister over time. In terms of being reforming, we need to examine putting in place a system whereby the self-employed can qualify for jobseeker's benefit. At present, the PAYE taxpayer can qualify for jobseeker's benefit based on the contributions he or she earns. If there are more than 260 contributions paid, one gets jobseeker's benefit over nine months and if there are fewer than 260, he or she gets it over six months. Perhaps we need to put something in place for jobseeker's benefit for the self-employed for three or six months. It is something we need to examine. I would ask that it would be reviewed urgently by the Minister and her Department.

The second key area which comes up quite often at present is PAYE taxpayers being able to claim jobseeker's benefit. If someone has lost a job or where, for instance, the number of hours in which he or she is on the job are reduced, currently one can only claim jobseeker's benefit as an employee if one is unemployed for four or more days per week, which translates into working for three or fewer days per week. If one goes above the latter threshold, one does not qualify for jobseeker's benefit. I have dealt with cases recently, including someone who was in a job working 30 hours a week. The employer decided to reduce the worker's hours to eight hours per week, but wished the employee to come in at least an hour per day and the employee was working over the five days. The employee did not qualify for jobseeker's benefit. It is completely unfair. It is a draconian measure. We need to examine how we can reform the system to allow such employees to base it on hours as distinct from days. In the case of this individual, he did not qualify for family income supplement, FIS, because he was not working the requisite hours and he could not qualify for jobseeker's benefit because he was working more than three days per week, even though that was only roughly an hour or an hour and a half per day. Effectively, he was forced to give up his job because he had a young family.

We must look at the way the system works currently. I would advocate two simple straightforward measures which relate to both employees and the self-employed. For PAYE workers, it is a relatively straightforward measure. We need to change jobseeker's benefit from being assessed on a daily basis where one may work only three days or less, which would equate to 20 to 24 hours per week, to where one cannot work more than 20 or 21 hours, or whatever, per week. Given the trends, one should translate it from days into hours and allow workers remain in employment. Regarding the self-employed, if we are looking to adopt an entrepreneurial culture where citizens will create jobs, both for themselves and for others, we must allow them the same treatment as a PAYE taxpayer. We need to examine putting a structure in place whereby the self-employed can qualify for jobseeker's benefit, make contributions towards that and be given such facility so that if their business fails, they are not placed in the dramatic position where they are unable to provide for themselves and their families. I would ask that those two simple measures be taken on board by the Minister and implemented. It is something I feel strongly about for my constituents in Limerick.

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