Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the way the value of a second house which has been left to the spouse of a person who is seeking jobseeker's allowance is valued and computed, in terms of capital values, in the context, where this house will be lived in by the family and they are giving their home place to a member of their family; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23468/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Jobseeker's allowance is paid to unemployed persons who satisfy certain conditions set out in legislation that require among others, that the person is unemployed, is capable of work, is available for work and is genuinely seeking work. To qualify for jobseeker's allowance a person must also satisfy a means test. The means test for jobseeker's allowance involves an assessment of the person's means which includes any property they or their spouse/partner may own, apart from the family home.

Where a person owns a second property, any outstanding mortgage on this property is disregarded from the current market value of the property and the balance is assessable as follows. The first € 20,000 is disregarded and the next €10,000 is assessed as weekly means of €2 per 1,000, and the balance is assessed as weekly means of €4 per 1,000. Where a person moves to a new family home and transfers ownership of their former family home to a member of their family, the former family home is not assessable provided the Department is satisfied that the property was not disposed of in order to qualify for a higher rate of payment.