Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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275. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if advice will be provided on a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6008/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The matter raised by the Deputy in relation to the employment contracts and the pay arrangements for  educational sector workers including early years educators during the school breaks  is a matter for each employer in the educational sector to determine for their own staff.

Educational sector workers including early years educators who are employed on a temporary basis and are unemployed during the school breaks may make an application for a jobseeker's payment.  A jobseeker’s payment is paid for days of unemployment where the person is not being remunerated for by their employer, including receipt of any holiday pay entitlement during the school break.

I announced on Budget Day a €12 increase to the weekly rate of social welfare payments from January 2023.  The rate increase was accompanied by a wide range additional measures and lump sum payments in 2022 to social welfare customers. 

In general, most welfare recipients, taking into account the one-off measures, the energy credits and the underlying rate increase, will be better off by about 10% over the next 12 months compared to the 12 months just past. Taken together, for many household types, the combination effectively matches, or exceeds, inflation.  

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.