Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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144. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of people who have had their jobseekers' payments cut, by month, to date in 2025; the amount deducted from payments as a result; to compare this with previous years; if his Department has analysed the impact this has had on child poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50505/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Entitlement to a jobseeker payment is dependent on the recipient being available for, capable of and genuinely seeking work. This reflects the concept of ‘rights and responsibilities’ whereby people who are unemployed have the right to an income support from the State and a right to be supported in their efforts to secure employment, but also have a responsibility to seek employment and to engage with the employment services offered by the State.

Intreo Employment Services supports jobseekers to find work and there are a wide range of supports on offer in terms of further education, training, upskilling, work placements as well as programmes such as Community Employment and TUS.

Customers who do not engage with the Intreo Employment Service or who fail to participate in appropriate employment interventions can have their jobseeker’s payment reduced and subsequently be disqualified from their payment for up to 9 weeks. They may also have their entitlement to a Jobseekers payment reviewed based on a failure to genuinely seek work. The weekly reduced rates applied for jobseekers Allowance and Jobseekers Benefit increased from €44 to €90 from January 2025 and is set at 20% for customers in receipt of the recently introduced Jobseekers Pay Related Benefit.

Reduced rates were introduced as a means of encouraging jobseekers to engage proactively with Intreo Employment Services to assist them find a pathway to employment. A reduced rate is a final step in a process to encourage a jobseeker to avail of employment supports on offer and once a jobseeker resumes this engagement the reduced rate is lifted immediately. Whether a reduced rate applies, and the duration of its application is totally within the control of the claimant.

Jobseeker's Allowance is a means-tested payment for unemployed people, the rate paid may be affected by a change in earnings, for example, if a person commences work part-time or casually, or if they gain additional working hours. If their spouse commences work this can also impact the rate of jobseeker's payment as the spouse's earnings are also taken into consideration. The use of means tests in the social welfare system is a method of targeting scarce resources to those with an identified financial need. Removal of the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance, would not only change the nature of the scheme as an income support but would also have significant policy and budgetary implications and reduce the scope for my Department to provide income supports to lower income households.

The Deputy may be interested to know that the majority of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims are paid at the personal rate of payment with approximately 15% of recipients being paid an allowance in respect of their dependant spouse or partner.

Given the complex and multi-faceted nature of child poverty, it is difficult to determine the precise impact of measures on child poverty rates. However, we know from the CSO SILC data that people who are unemployed have higher rates of poverty, highlighting the importance of supporting low income families with children into quality and sustainable employment.

The Deputy may wish to note that during the period of the Covid 19 pandemic, the application of the reduced rate process was suspended and was gradually re-introduced over the course of 2023.

The tables below provides a monthly breakdown of the number of reduced rates applied in the years 2023, 2024 and from January to the end of August 2025. It is possible that a person may have multiple reduced rates applied throughout the course of the year.