Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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860. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will amend legislation to ensure that new applicants for jobseeker's benefit who were in receipt of carer’s allowance and worked one day a week in the governing tax year are not adversely affected by giving them a lower rate of payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32621/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Jobseeker’s benefit is a weekly payment for people who have lost employment and are covered by social insurance.

Since the extension of full social insurance cover to part-time workers from April 1991, a range of measures were introduced to the jobseekers benefit scheme in order to ensure that disincentives to employment were not created. In the absence of these measures, a situation would exist whereby many workers on low incomes would have access to weekly social welfare benefit payments in excess of their income from employment.

To overcome the potential disincentives involved, the rate of benefit payable is amended according to the level of the claimant’s earnings. The maximum weekly personal rate is €203 where a person had average weekly earnings of €300 or more in the Governing Contribution Year, which is 2018 for claims made in 2020. Where a person had average weekly earnings of between €220 and €299 the rate is €159. Where the average weekly earnings were between €150 and €219.99 they will receive €131 and where a person had average weekly earnings of less than €150 they receive €91.10 per week.

Where a person is not entitled to jobseekers benefit or has an entitlement to a lower graduated rate they can opt to apply for jobseeker’s allowance which is a means tested payment. Depending on the persons means they may be entitled to the maximum personal rate of jobseekers allowance which is the same as the maximum personal rate of jobseekers benefit.

There are no plans at this time to amend these long standing arrangements.

I trust that this clarifies the position for the Deputy.