Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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398. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost to the State of restoring all jobseeker's payments to €188 a week. [26908/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009 and Budget 2014 further extended the reduced rates to recipients under 26 years of age. 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 2016 Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure this year on the Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme of €2.45 billion.

The full year cost of increasing the rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance paid to recipients under 26 years of age to the maximum rate of €188 per week is estimated at €128.4 million in 2017. This cost includes increasing the rate of Supplementary Welfare Allowance for recipients under 26 years of age to the maximum weekly rate of €186 per week and increasing the €160 Back to Education Allowance rate to the max rate of €188 per week.

However, this does not include the additional cost that would be incurred of paying the full weekly rate of €188 to under 26s who are on other relevant education and training schemes, that fall under the remit of the Department of Education and Skills and are currently receiving €160 per week.