Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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58. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she considered requiring employers availing of JobsPlus to pay wages at a level higher than the minimum wage. [43371/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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JobsPlus is a new simplified scheme which replaced the Employer Job (PRSI) Exemption (effective from 20 June 2010) and Revenue Job Assist (which commenced on 6 April 1998) schemes and is more targeted at channelling full time job opportunities to the longer term unemployed. JobsPlus provides an immediate financial incentive to employers who recruit employees from those who are long term unemployed on the live register. The incentive is payable, on a monthly basis, over a two year period while the employee is retained in full time employment. One of the qualifying conditions of the Incentive requires the employer to be compliant with Irish employment laws. Under the National Minimum wage Act 2000, employees are entitled to a minimum wage. All employers recruiting under this incentive are required to comply with the conditions as set out in the Act.

There are no plans at present to change the qualifying conditions of the incentive.