Terence Flanagan
Question:512. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection his views on social welfare benefits (details supplied) in Dublin 3; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47562/12]
View answerTuesday, 6 November 2012
Questions (512)
Written answers
The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative employment. It is a fundamental qualifying condition for these benefits that a person must be available for full-time work. My Department engages with jobseekers in order to support them and their families in progressing into employment. One of the key concepts underpinning pathways to work and intreo, a new service providing a single point of contact for all employment and income supports, is the relationship between the jobseeker and the Department. In accepting payment of benefit and support, the jobseeker shall agree to avail of the appropriate support measures offered during the course of the activation process, whether this is employment, education, training or placement in employment schemes.
With regard to the dynamics of the Live Register it may be noted that the great majority of people on the Live Register have a strong financial incentive to work and significant numbers leave the register each year. Indeed, for many unemployed people, unemployment is a short-term experience and the jobseeker’s schemes have an important labour market function in supporting people through periods of involuntary unemployment. In this context the establishment of a compulsory work system for jobseekers would be a matter for my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the first instance. However, I would note that there could be significant potential for such a system to interfere with the functioning of the labour market, for example through substitution of existing work.