Vol. 520 No. 3
101 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans if any, he has to change the rule whereby a person who has been on disability benefit for more than one year, will find that if they switch to unemployment benefit, their rate of payment will be calculated as if they had nil previous earnings in the previous contribution year, ignoring their earning levels prior to when they first became ill. [15708/00]
Unemployment benefit is a weekly payment made to insured people who are out of work and who satisfy a number of qualifying conditions. The rate of payment is graduated according to the earnings of the claimant in the relevant tax year, that is, the last income tax year before the benefit year in which the claim is made. If the claimant has earnings from employment in the relevant tax year, only those earnings will be used to determine the rate of payment.
Graduated rates of benefit payments were introduced in order to ensure that disincentives to employment were not created following on the extension in 1991 of full social insurance coverage to workers earning in excess of £25 per week. This income limit has since been increased to £30 per week. In the absence of graduated rates of payment, a situation would exist whereby many workers on low incomes could have access to weekly social welfare payments which would exceed their income from employment. I would be reluctant, therefore, to introduce changes to the qualifying conditions governing entitlement to graduated rates of benefits.
I should point out, however, that where a claimant who qualifies for a graduated rate of unemployment benefit has an underlying entitlement to unemployment assistance at a higher rate of payment, it is open to him/her to opt to receive unemployment assistance in lieu of unemployment benefit.
If the Deputy has a particular case in mind, perhaps he would let me have the relevant details and I will arrange to have the position examined.
