Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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1354.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of extending eligibility for working family payment (WFP) to parents in receipt of jobseeker’s transitional payment (JTP); the policy reasons those in receipt of the one-parent family payment are eligible for WFP but those on JST are not; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32709/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment is a special arrangement under the Jobseekers Allowance scheme, that is available to lone parents whose youngest child is aged 7 to 13 years inclusive.

Under this arrangement a number of the conditions of the Jobseekers Allowance scheme are not applied. For example, a person does not have to be fully unemployed for four out of seven days. This means a person can work part-time for five days and receive the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (subject to the means test). In addition, to support employment, where the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment customer is in employment, the first €165.00 per week of earnings is disregarded in the means test and only 50% of earnings above this amount are also assessed as means.

The Working Family Payment is not paid concurrently with jobseeker’s payments.

Allowing the Working Family Payment to be paid concurrently with the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment would set a precedent to pay the Working Family Payment and Jobseeker’s Allowance concurrently. This would compromise the policy integrity of the jobseeker’s scheme and may have significant cost implications. Additional costs may also arise were some current Working Family Payment customers may become eligible to claim a Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment.

The policy goal of the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment is to seek to provide supports for lone parents to help them avoid long-term social welfare dependency and associated poverty risks. The educational, training and employment supports proactively provided by Intreo, for Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment customers, have been designed to enhance these customers' skillsets, thereby assisting them with their subsequent attainment of financial independence.

The Working Family Payment is a tax-free in work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children.

It is not possible to estimate with accuracy the inflow of Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment customers on to the Working Family Payment, if the payments were to be paid concurrently, given the hours worked requirement and income thresholds that apply.

If a lone parent is already on the Working Family Payment when transitioning off One-Parent Family Payment, they have a choice of remaining on the Working Family Payment only, or transferring to the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment only, while continuing in employment.

Lone parents on the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment in employment, who meet the hours requirement, can also transfer to the Working Family Payment.

Given the above, the full year cost of paying the Working Family Payment concurrently with the Jobseeker's Transitional Payment is very difficult to estimate accurately. An initial exercise conducted in 2023, noting the caveats as above, indicated such a change would cost an additional €63.6 million a year. This estimate was based only on an assumption that all Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment customers met the hours worked threshold, while other possible costs were not considered.

Persons who move off the One-Parent Family Payment or Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment into employment can qualify for the Back to Work Family Dividend. This scheme is payable for two years. In year one, the rate of payment is 100% of the person's previous Increase for Qualified Children payment (subject to a maximum payable rate equivalent to four children), In year two, 50% of the above amount is paid.

I trust this clarifies the position.