Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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1262. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties being experienced by those foster carers in receipt of jobseeker's allowance now being invited to attend job skills groups which is not taking into account the type of work they do as carers in view of the fact that this could have a detrimental effect on the numbers of those that are foster carers. [43710/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and who are available for and genuinely seeking full-time employment. Jobseeker’s allowance is a means tested social assistance payment whereas jobseeker’s benefit is a contribution based insurance scheme. The 2017 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €2.5 billion.

Jobseeker’s payments compensate for periods of involuntary unemployment only and for this reason social welfare legislation provides that all jobseekers must satisfy certain qualifying conditions in order to be entitled to an unemployment payment including. These include being available for and genuinely seeking full-time work. Associated with these conditions, recipients are expected to be available to attend group information sessions and other meetings at their local Intreo centre.

It is important in the interests of equity and fairness that the conditions for receipt of a jobseekers payment apply to all recipients. It is essential to the sustainability and integrity of the jobseeker’s schemes that these criteria remain a core feature of the State’s supports for jobseekers.

I have no plans to introduce exemptions to the availability or genuinely seeking work conditions for people in receipt of foster care allowance or any other group.