Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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419. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an applicant's income from part-time work will be disregarded as part of reckonable income assessed. [41572/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Social assistance payments are means-tested. The means assessment reflects the fact that there is an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of income or capital are in a position to use these resources to support themselves so that social welfare expenditure can be directed towards those who need it.

However, in recognition of the benefits that work can bring – both financially and socially – most schemes have an earnings disregard. This means that a recipient of a social assistance payment can have a certain amount of earnings and still retain a proportion of their social welfare payment. The amount of earnings disregarded, and how this income is assessed, depends on the scheme.

Part-time employment is supported through a number of schemes, including casual and systematic short-time work arrangements for people on a jobseeker payment. A person in receipt of a Jobseeker's Benefit or Allowance payment can work up to three days per week, where they are fully unemployed for at least four in any seven consecutive days.

In addition, the Working Family Payment provides an income top-up to employees with dependent children on low earnings who work for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight, or 19 hours per week.

As a person’s earnings increase above a certain point, their social welfare payment will decrease in accordance with their means.