Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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408. To ask the Minister for Social Protection why the report on the impact of reduced jobseeker payment rates for jobseekers aged 18 to 25 years of age has not been published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21238/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009. Budget 2014 further extended the reduced rates to recipients under 26 years of age. This is a targeted measure aimed at protecting young people from welfare dependency. 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 a young 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 review of jobseeker’s allowance rates for young persons under 26 years of age will examine the effectiveness of the reduced rates in encouraging young jobseekers to avail of education, training, employment programmes and opportunities. As part of a wider effort to encourage and promote research based on my Department’s administrative data, we have recently provided data on all JA claims since 2007 for persons aged under 28 years to researchers from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. They intend to look specifically at the impact of changes in rates on the duration of young people’s claims, and on the subsequent employment experience of young people after exiting from unemployment. It is hoped that their analysis will have preliminary results before the end of the year.

I am committed to ensuring my Department identifies effective measures to incentivise and support young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs. The best way to do this is through engagement processes and by incentivising them to avail of educational and training opportunities, thereby enhancing their employment prospects.