Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I am informed by SOLAS that the first-year weekly wages of apprentices vary between €195 and €323, depending on the particular craft involved and the sector of the employment. These rates generally rise substantially in the second year of apprenticeship. The most recent statistics show that there are some 38,200 persons aged 25 or younger on jobseeker’s allowance. While the full weekly rate of jobseekers’’ allowance is €188, approximately 31,000 of these young claimants are in receipt of a reduced jobseeker’s allowance of either €144 or €100 per week. In the light of the above I am not aware of any significant disincentives facing young people considering coming off Jobseekers’ Allowance to take up apprenticeships.

Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were introduced in 2009 and these measures were extended in Budget 2010. Budget 2014 further extended the reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance to recipients aged 25 years of age. This is a targeted activation 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 as those who avail of such opportunities are well placed to take full advantage of sustainable employment. 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.

The measures did not apply to existing claimants on a higher rate at the time the initiative was introduced or to young jobseeker allowance recipients with children.