Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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79. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she considers women to be primarily home makers, in view of their status as qualified adults on their partners' job seeker's allowance or benefit claims; if this complies with equality legislation; if she considers it an outdated practice; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23462/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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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. The revised estimates for the Department of Social Protection provide for expenditure of €3.3bn in 2014 in respect of the jobseeker's schemes.

Subject to scheme conditions, and as is the case in respect of a range of other schemes within the social welfare system, a primary claimant under the jobseeker's schemes may apply for payment of an increase for a qualified adult (IQA) for a dependent spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, or a dependent person over 16 years of age who is caring for a qualified child of the claimant. There is no specific gender requirement for such an application and someone receiving an IQA can be either a man or a woman. Generally, persons in respect of whom IQA payments may be claimed are free to claim a social welfare payment in their own right. For example, where a person of working age is a qualified adult on their spouse's jobseeker's benefit or allowance claim that person may claim jobseeker's benefit or allowance in their own right. If the claim is successful, the increase for a qualified adult ceases to be payable to the spouse. In this way equality of access to the schemes is provided.

The payment of IQAs is a long standing feature of the welfare system. Such payments do not have regard to any status of the qualified adult other than the fact that they are a dependent of the claimant. However, it is true that despite changes in the role of women in society and in the labour market generally, most qualified adults are women. Issues in relation to qualified adult payment are part of the current considerations of the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare, in the context of their fourth report on working age payments, which is due to be completed in the coming months.