Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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935. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied); if he is conscious of the need to maintain financial independence in the case where one spouse loses their employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30110/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The person referred to by the Deputy has been awarded Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit, which is not affected by the income of the person's spouse.

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. A person must meet the required PRSI contribution conditions in order to qualify and the rate of payment is directly linked to the person's previous earnings. The scheme does not involve a means test.

The person concerned has been awarded Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit at a rate of €136.90. This rate is based on 60% of their weekly average gross earnings for the 12 months previous to the 8 weeks before they lost their employment, in line with the legislation for the scheme. The department obtains information on earnings directly from Revenue.

Under this scheme, the weekly rate of payment for a person with at least 5 years paid PRSI contributions is set at 60% of previous earnings, up to a maximum of €450 for the first 13 weeks. After that, the rate is set at 55% of previous earnings up to a maximum of €375 for the following 13 weeks. A further 13 weeks will be paid at the rate of 50%, up to a maximum €300 payment.

For people who have between two and five years contributions, the rate is set at 50% of previous earnings. This is paid up to a maximum of €300 per week, subject to a maximum duration of 26 weeks.

It is open to the individual to make an application for the means-tested Jobseeker's Allowance if they think they may be entitled to a higher rate of payment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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936. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide the number of recipients of child benefit in an area (details provided) from 2020 to present, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30136/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment to support families with children under 18.

Recipients of Child Benefit statistics are not available by electoral divisions geography. Quarterly statistics on recipients of Child Benefit, including a breakdown by county, is published in open data format as part of the Department's Quarterly Statistics report which is available at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/collections/quarterly-statistics/#quarterly-statistical-open-data . These figures are set out in the table below.