Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Department delivers a range of supports to help people in receipt of a jobseekers payment to secure and sustain full-time employment. The Intreo employment service works with jobseekers on an individualised basis to identify skills, work experience and work preferences with a view to matching people to suitable job opportunities and to address skills gaps or training needs by referring jobseekers to suitable education and training opportunities or to employment schemes like the work placement experience programme or the community employment scheme. Engagement with Intreo is mandatory for these jobseekers.

Part-time employment is supported through a number of schemes, including casual and systematic short-time work arrangements for people on a jobseeker's payment. A person in receipt of a jobseeker's benefit or allowance payment can work up to three days per week, where he or she is fully unemployed for at least four in any seven consecutive days.

The part-time job incentive scheme is available to people who are long-term unemployed to allow them to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a weekly income supplement. Participants are expected to continue to make efforts to find full-time work.

In addition, the working family payment provides an income top-up to employees with dependent children on low earnings who work for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight, or 19 hours per week. While Intreo aims to support jobseekers to secure full-time employment, in the absence of this part-time employment can be a stepping stone on the pathway to full-time employment. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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