Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

98. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding the establishment of a working age payment as committed to in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49130/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My Department is currently examining a new Working Age Payment and hopes to issue a public consultation on the issue later this year or early in 2026. An outline of a possible approach was already published in the consultation paper on the Pay Related Benefit model.

Noting the work already done, the Programme for Government commits that any new Working Age Payment will ensure that individuals will always see an increase in income when they work or take on additional hours. It will do this by addressing inconsistencies and anomalies in the current Jobseekers Allowance Scheme which may discourage people from taking up employment.

Currently if a person on a Jobseeker’s Allowance payment receives an offer of part-time work, they may end up worse off financially if their hours are spread over the whole of the working week, rather than concentrated in three days or less. This situation needs to be addressed.

A proposed Working Age Payment model would change the basis for payment, moving away from a ‘days of work’ approach to an income-based approach.

One approach under consideration is to base a person’s payment on a percentage of the difference between their income and a specified threshold for their family type. This is the approach currently used under the Working Family Payment and provides a more flexible approach that reflects modern working.

As already stated my officials are currently exploring a range of potential models for a new Working Age Payment and it is intended to publish a Strawman proposal for consultation later in the year or, at the latest, early next year.