Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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970. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of recipients of one-parent family payment each year from 2018 to date in 2022; the number of recipients who moved to the jobseeker’s transitional payment in each of the years since 2018 to date in 2022; the number of jobseeker’s transition payment recipients who moved to jobseeker’s allowance payment in each of the years since 2018 to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19281/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (JST) is a special arrangement under the Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme that aims to support lone parents into the workforce while they have young children.  The One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is a payment for people under 66 who are bringing children up without the support of a partner.

Table 1 shows the number of recipients of OFP, JST and the numbers that transferred from JST to Jobseeker's Allowance each year from 2018 to 2021.

Table 2 shows the number of recipients of OFP, JST and the numbers that transferred from JST to Jobseeker's Allowance each month from January 2022 to 2022.

Table 1: Number of recipients of OFP, JST, and the numbers of transitions from JST to Jobseekers Allowance, by year.

Table 2: Number of recipients of OFP, JST, and the numbers of transitions from JST to Jobseekers Allowance, by month in 2022.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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971. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total number of jobseeker’s transitional payment recipients; the number of recipients who are self-employed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19282/22]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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972. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount it would cost the State to maintain the €165 income disregard for self-employed persons moving from one parent family payment to jobseeker’s transitional payment putting them on equal footing with recipients who are employees. [19283/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 971 and 972 together.

The Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment is a provision under the Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme that is available to lone parents, both former OFP recipients and new lone parents, who are not co-habiting and have a youngest child aged 7 or over but under age 14.  As such, the means rules of the Jobseekers Allowance scheme that apply to self-employed Jobseekers Allowance recipients also apply to self-employed people in receipt of Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment.

Under these rules, where individuals have income from self-employment the earnings disregard of €60 per week does not apply.  Rather the means assessed is income from self-employment less allowable business expenses with the balance assessed at a rate of a euro for euro.

I am advised that as of the end of February 2022, there were 16,481 recipients of Jobseeker’s Transition Payment, of whom 70 were categorised as self-employed.  There are also approximately 4,000 Jobseekers Allowance recipients who are self-employed.  Any changes to the treatment of self-employed income in the means test could have significant cost implications and could only be considered in a Budgetary context.

It is important to note that when One-Parent Family Payment recipients who are self-employed transfer from One-Parent Family Payment to Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment, they may qualify for the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA), which allows them to retain their full social welfare payment for the first year and 75% in the second year.  Usually access to the BTWEA is only for new businesses and individuals with pre-existing businesses are not eligible for the BTWEA payment.  However, a special provision was introduced to support self-employed lone parents who transition from OFP so that they may qualify for the BTWEA even where they had a pre-existing business.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.