Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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547. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason expenditure on jobseeker's benefit is expected to rise in 2019 when compared to 2018 as outlined in the budget 2019 expenditure report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46546/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The 2019 Budget Estimate for Jobseekers Benefit is €346.5m. This is an increase of €14.8m on the 2018 REV estimate which is €331.7m. This is due to a number of factors including the 2019 rate increase announced in the Budget, the carryover cost of the previous year's rate increase and the cost of extending Jobseeker's Benefit to the self-employed in late 2019.

There has been a significant decline in Jobseekers Benefit expenditure from a peak of over €2.4 billion in 2009.