Written answers

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

Department of Social Protection

Jobseeker's Allowance Payments

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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104. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will increase the current under 25s jobseeker's payment; and her views that €100 is sufficient to provide for the basic needs of a young person living alone and without work. [35539/14]

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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105. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether it is reasonable that a 24 year old homeless unemployed person will receive €44 less a week in jobseeker's allowance than a 25 year old person in a similar position; and if she poverty proofed the reduction in the under 25s jobseeker's allowance payment before imposing the cut in Budget 2014. [35540/14]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 105 together.

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 provide for expenditure of €3.3bn in 2014 in respect of the jobseekers schemes.

Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009. Budget 2014 further extended the reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance to recipients under 26 years of age.

This is a targeted measure aimed at protecting young people from welfare dependency. It aims to incentivise young jobseeker’s allowance recipients to avail of education and training opportunities. If a jobseeker in receipt of the reduced jobseeker’s allowance rate participates on an education or training programme they will receive a higher weekly payment of €160.

To guard against the development of welfare dependency I believe that it is necessary to provide young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment. If they do not improve their skills, it will be much more difficult for them to avail of job opportunities as the economy recovers and they are at risk of becoming long term unemployed from a young age.

In this context it may be noted that starting in 2014, processes and programmes will be rolled out to ensure that all of those young unemployed people who need most support (i.e. are assessed as having a low to medium probability of securing employment in the absence of any support) will receive a Youth Guarantee offer within four months of an initial one-to-one interview.

As part of the normal budget process, all potential budget measures, including any changes to the jobseeker’s allowance scheme are assessed in terms of the impact they would have if introduced. The Department has also published a social impact assessment of the main welfare and tax measures in Budget 2014. The analysis shows that the combined welfare and tax measures for 2014 result in a loss of 0.8 per cent in average household income. There was no significant change in the at-risk-of-poverty rate, as social transfers continue to perform strongly, substantially reducing the at-risk-of-poverty rate during the economic recession.

With regard to the concerns raised by organisations working with homeless people, the Department is engaging with them to review the approach in relation to rent supplement, particularly with regard to young persons in emergency homeless accommodation. The Department is also engaging with Simon and Focus Ireland in relation to the development of a specific programme for homeless people on the community employment scheme.

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