Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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363. To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a person is applying for jobseeker's allowance is their income only taken into account or is their partner's income or the household income taken into account as part of the means test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24051/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Jobseeker’s allowance is a means tested social assistance scheme. The means test takes into account assets and income (including earnings). In the case of a couple, account is taken of the means of both members of the couple and this reflects the fact that married couples, civil partners and cohabitants are financially interdependent on each other. The income of other members of the household is not taken into account.

However, where a jobseeker’s allowance claimant is under 25 years of age, the value of the benefit and privilege derived from living with a parent or step-parent is assessed for means testing purposes. In practice, benefit and privilege is taken to mean the value of board and lodging to applicants residing in the home of parents and the value of same is assessed by reference to a formula (with a wide range of income disregards). The purpose of the assessment is to achieve a degree of equity as between applicants who have this benefit and those who have not, and between people living in relatively better-off households and those whose circumstances are less well off. It should be noted that the income of other household members is not taken into account in this assessment (for instance, brothers and sisters).