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

There are safeguards already. Under the previous regime, one's payments were stopped altogether if one was determined not to be genuinely seeking work. Under this regime, payments are only reduced by a certain amount and the payment in respect of a child is never reduced, nor is the payment in respect of a qualified adult. The secondary payments, such as the fuel allowance, are not affected. It is only the payment to the main person in the household of a jobseeker that is reduced, not the child or dependent adult payments or the secondary payments. However, I intend to examine, for my own interest as much as anything else, a breakdown or profile of the reasons for sanctions and of the people who have had sanctions applied to them. I have asked for that but I do not have it yet.

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