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

I want to correct something I said earlier. I mentioned that I would be at the joint committee tomorrow but I will not be. That particular matter is being handled by officials but I will be in the House.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has not made any changes recently to the arrangements that apply to seasonal workers and part-time workers who need to access social welfare payments once their employment ceases. My Department administers over 70 different schemes and services and has committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. One of the main priorities for the Department is to build on achievements already made to integrate services into the Intreo service delivery model and streamline the applications process for all schemes. If the Deputy has any particular concerns, perhaps he would let me have the details and I will follow up on them.

In general, seasonal and part-time workers should apply for jobseeker’s benefit or allowance as soon as they become unemployed. In order to qualify for jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance a person must satisfy certain conditions. To qualify for jobseeker’s benefit the first condition is that the person must have at least 104 reckonable contributions, under classes A, H or P paid since they entered insurable employment. Class S self-employed contributions are not reckonable for jobseeker’s benefit. To satisfy the second condition, a person must have at least 39 reckonable contributions paid or credited in the governing contribution year, GCY. The GCY is the second last complete contribution year running from 1 January to 31 December before the year in which the claim is made. For any person making a claim in 2017, the GCY would be 2015. Of these, 13 contributions must be paid or the person must have at least 26 reckonable contributions paid in both the GCY and the year immediately preceding it - for 2017, this would be 2015 and 2014. If a person does not have 13 paid contributions in the relevant GCY, they must have 13 contributions paid in either of the two tax years before the relevant GCY or the last complete tax year or the current tax year - for 2017, this would be 2016 and 2017. Initially, when a person makes an application for jobseeker’s benefit, three waiting days apply and payment is made from the fourth day of the claim. If, however, a person makes a repeat claim for jobseeker’s benefit within 26 weeks of their previous claim, the repeat claim links to the earlier claim and no waiting days apply. Admittedly, that is quite hard to follow.

Jobseeker’s assistance is a means tested payment and earnings are taken into account in determining means. A person must satisfy certain conditions, including being available for and genuinely seeking work. Casual part-time workers may qualify for jobseeker’s allowance subject to satisfying the means test and other qualifying conditions. A disregard of €20 a day, up to a maximum of €60, applies up to a maximum of three days and the balance is assessed at 60%.

In determining the assessable income from insurable employment, the following deductions are allowed: superannuation, additional voluntary contributions, AVCs, PRSI, the pension levy and trade union subscriptions. The person’s net average assessable weekly earnings are assessed by reference to the previous 13 weeks or another period if this is more representative of the person's normal working pattern. Jobseeker’s allowance is not payable where the average means are equal to or in excess of the relevant family rate of payment.

School educational sector workers, who are employed on a temporary basis and who have previously been in contact with the Department, are issued with a repeat jobseeker's application form and holiday form in advance of the school holiday periods. This advance process facilitates an efficient service to these customers and allows for speedy processing of their claim when the period of unemployment actually arises. However, it is important to note that educational sector workers are still required to sign on for each period of unemployment.

The governing legislation states that a day shall not be treated as a day of unemployment, it shall be treated as a day of employment unless it is considered subsidiary employment. To be considered subsidiary employment, the work being undertaken should be in addition to the usual full-time employment, and the remuneration received by the jobseeker must not exceed €12.70 a day or the jobseeker must have a minimum of 117 PRSI contributions paid immediately preceding the date of the claim or in respect of the last three complete contribution years.

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