Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Somebody who had previously been working and making contributions, in the first instance, should be entitled to jobseeker's benefit, which cannot be cut. That is a legal entitlement for six to nine months depending on the person's length of contributions. Only jobseeker's allowance can be reduced. The penalty rates are being used more frequently than they were in the past. That is not related to JobPath. They are being used more frequently in general by Intreo, LES and JobPath. The Deputy should bear in mind that only Department deciding officers can apply reduced rate. It cannot be done by the JobPath providers or LES. We anticipate about 10,000 penalty rates will be applied this year.

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