Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When the youngest child of a jobseeker's transitional payment claimant turns 14, the claimant may transition to jobseeker's allowance assuming the claimant is eligible for it. This payment has a much lower maximum income disregard at €60 compared with €150 per week on the jobseeker's transitional payment. The tapered rate of jobseeker's allowance is higher at 60%, compared with 50% on jobseeker's transitional payment. Consequently, allowing jobseeker's transitional payment to continue until the youngest child is 18 would massively increase the overall costs of the jobseeker's transitional payment scheme and have the effect of reversing the reforms introduced by the then Minister in 2012. It probably would discourage our policy of encouraging lone parents into education, which is proving successful.