Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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138. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to clarify how the new pay-linked jobseeker's benefit will be applied to someone who is working in the North of Ireland and is made redundant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21654/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit is a new social insurance income support which has replaced the Jobseeker's Benefit scheme for people who are fully unemployed and whose first day of unemployment is on or after 31 March 2025. Pay-Related Benefit means that the rate of income support is directly linked to previous earnings subject to a maximum payment amount.

Our bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom, the Convention on Social Security, sets out the social security provisions for United Kingdom and Irish citizens residing within the Common Travel Area. Article 21 of the agreement sets out the arrangements for unemployment benefits. If a citizen residing in the Republic of Ireland loses their employment and becomes fully unemployed, their entitlement to unemployment benefit is not affected by the fact they were employed in the North of Ireland. This means that people resident in the Republic of Ireland, having worked in the North of Ireland and being made redundant, will be eligible for the new Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit scheme.

This new payment is directly linked to previous earnings and we will be requesting details of a person's earnings in the relevant 12-month period in order to assess their rate of payment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.