Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 March 2015
57. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the social welfare entitlements of a person in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or jobseeker's benefit who wishes to undertake a European voluntary service placement under the auspices of the ERASMUS+ Programme in another European Union member state; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10836/15]
View answerSocial welfare legislation provides that a person must satisfy the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking work in order to be entitled to jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance. Any person who fails to satisfy these conditions is not entitled to a jobseeker’s payment.
A student undergoing a full-time course of study, instruction or training is disqualified from receiving jobseekers allowance or benefit. This disqualification also extends to the holiday periods, including the summer holidays. In addition, a person volunteering abroad will not satisfy the criteria of being available for and genuinely seeking work and is therefore disqualified from receiving a jobseeker’s payment.
The disqualification for receipt of jobseeker’s benefit or allowance does not apply in the case of mature students during the period between two academic years. During this period a mature student can apply for jobseeker’s benefit or allowance, subject to satisfying the standard qualifying conditions, including that of being available for full-time work.
More generally the social security rights of workers and their families moving within the EU are dealt with by EU regulations on the coordination of social security systems. These regulations deal with a wide range of issues including the jurisdiction in which people should pay social insurance, the aggregation of contributions made in other Member States, liability for payment of benefits and in the case of pensions, how those benefits are calculated. The competent Member State for insurance and benefits is decided on the basis of a priority list starting with employment and ending with residence.
In relation to jobseeker’s benefit the regulations provide that eligibility for benefit is dependent on the person’s most recent social insurance contributions being made in the competent Member State. Accordingly, a person must make their last contribution here before being eligible for benefit. They can, of course, count contributions made in other Member States towards qualification once their last contribution has been paid in this jurisdiction.
Any person who is involuntarily unemployed and fails to qualify for jobseeker’s benefit may claim jobseeker’s allowance which is subject, inter alia, to a means test and the habitual residence condition.
