Where a person has established an entitlement to certain additional benefits while claiming unemployment assistance, the person may retain their benefits for the duration of certain specified FÁS schemes.
The benefits which can be retained while on Community Employment Workplace, Jobstart, and the Part-time Job Opportunities programme are: fuel allowance; smokeless fuel allowance; Christmas bonus; butter vouchers; medical card; rent allowance; diet supplement; heating allowance; back to school clothing and footwear allowance and local authority differential rent. However, secondary benefits are retained by Jobstart participants for an initial 52 weeks, subject to a weekly income limit of £250 which applies to both Jobstart and Community Employment. Persons participating on the Job Initiative scheme do not retain secondary benefits, with the exception of the medical card. Persons on Jobstart and the Job Initiative however are also entitled to claim family income supplement, and the continued child payment scheme under which by long-term unemployed people retain entitlement to child dependent payments for 13 weeks which they take up employment.