Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for taking this matter. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, is in the Seanad dealing with a Bill on social protection.

The issue I wish to raise is the effect on the disposable income of some individuals of the reclassification of Sunday in calculating jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance. A person used to be entitled to claim either jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance where he or she had not been working for at least four days in seven consecutive days. As a result of a change made in the last budget, we now include Sunday as one of those days in working out how many days an individual has been working and, consequently, the jobseeker's payment to which one is entitled.

Although I fully understand the principle behind the method of calculation, the object of which is to ensure every working day is regarded as equal, I must bring to the Minister's attention a matter raised with me by a constituent. The constituent is working in the service industry for three days each week - Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Owing to the reclassification of Sunday, however, the individual has been hurt very severely. As a consequence, the payment available to the individual has been reduced considerably, from €80 to €26, representing a drop of €54. The change is such that the available social welfare income, in addition to the income from the work done, has decreased substantially.

I am raising this matter because, although I believe every individual is different in terms of income, working days and social welfare payments that may be accessed, the change is too severe if an individual must incur a drop in social welfare of nearly 60%. I ask that we revisit this issue. As the economy and jobs market begin to recover, many new jobs being created will involve part-time employment. For some, a change such as the one in question will reduce the financial incentive to work. I ask that the Minister take this on board. The decrease in income from €80 to €26 is very severe and I would appreciate the Minister's response thereon.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, who is unavailable.

The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative employment. It is a fundamental qualifying condition for these schemes that a person must be available for full-time work. Under the previous provisions, a person could, in general, qualify for a jobseeker's payment where he or she was unemployed for at least three days in any period of six consecutive days. However, Sundays were not counted for this purpose. This meant that where a person worked on a Sunday, this day was neither treated as a day of employment nor a day of unemployment for the qualification process. The changes introduced following budget 2012 and implemented on 20 February 2013 for jobseeker's allowance and 21 February 2013 for jobseeker's benefit bring the schemes into better alignment with the current operation of the labour market by counting Sundays in the determination of entitlement. Following these changes, a person is entitled to jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance where he or she is fully unemployed for at least four days in any period of seven consecutive days, inclusive of Sunday. Sunday work has become more usual, as demonstrated by the 2012 returns from social welfare local offices which show that some 18% of casual workers work Sunday in any given week.

As a consequence of the increasing incidence of Sunday working and given that Sunday work is frequently paid at premium rates, the exclusion or disregard of Sunday employment created significant anomalies in the jobseekers' schemes which have now been addressed: a person who was employed only on Sunday received the same unemployment payment as a fully unemployed person; a person working four days per week, including Sunday, qualified for payment, whereas a person working four days, excluding Sunday, did not; and in the case of jobseeker's allowance, the income from Sunday employment was included when assessing a person's average weekly means. However, as Sunday employment was ignored when calculating the weekly allowance payment, Sunday earnings were effectively disregarded on a week-to-week basis.

The change impacts on jobseeker customers where Sunday is either one of the days worked or the only day worked. Customers who work on a Sunday lose one day of payment in jobseeker's benefit or, in the case of jobseeker's allowance, they have means in respect of the day's employment deducted from their weekly payment. The measure has no effect where Sunday is not worked. The change simplifies the jobseekers' schemes, increases the fairness of the schemes and makes them more relevant to the modern labour market.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Minister stated: "or in the case of jobseeker's allowance, they have means in respect of the day's employment deducted from their weekly payment". This is the core of the issue I have raised. The magnitude of change for my constituent and many people like him across the country is a reduction of almost three quarters in their payment. Given the income for working three days a week in the first place is not high, such a change has a significant effect on the person's ability to live and to be in work or to gain something back from being in work. Will the Minister ensure the Department of Social Protection is aware of the magnitude of that change for somebody on a low income in the private sector and ask that it be reviewed? Will he also ensure that in future changes, more attention is given to people on low incomes from part-time work and the interaction between that low income and their social welfare payment?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I understand where the Deputy is coming from. There used to be an anomaly where Sunday was not counted as a working day and no matter how much one earned on the day, it was not assessed in the means test. The Minister for Social Protection has corrected that anomaly and the effect is that those who were beneficiaries of it in the past and who worked it into their weekly spending had their payment suddenly reduced and no transitional arrangement was put in place. However, that does not mean it was wrong to correct the anomaly. I will make the Minister aware of the issue the Deputy has raised. I will see her later in the week and I will make sure she has a transcript of this debate.