Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2018
645. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the commitment made in Pathways to Work 2016-2020 to review and report on the impact of the reduced jobseeker's payment rates for jobseekers aged 18 to 25 years of age has not been met; the stage the work is at to complete the report; the date when it is envisaged it will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53420/18]
View answerIn line with other EU and OECD jurisdictions where such measures feature, reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009 and extended to those under 26 in Budget 2014. Lower weekly rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were introduced to protect young people from welfare dependency by providing them with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment. Where a young jobseeker participates on an education or training programme they receive a higher weekly payment of €198 which is the maximum personal rate for jobseeker’s allowance.
The Pathways to Work Strategy 2016-2020 commits to a review of the effectiveness of reduced payment rates for jobseekers aged 18 to 25 in encouraging young jobseekers to avail of education, training, and employment opportunities. This review will be finalised shortly.
In a wider effort to encourage and promote research based on my Department’s administrative data, data on all Jobseeker Allowance claims since 2007 for persons aged under 28 years was provided to researchers from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. The data was utilised to specifically examine the labour market responsiveness of young claimants aged 18 and 19 years old and their subsequent employment experience after exiting from unemployment, following substantial policy reforms which saw a 50% reduction in jobseekers payments for this age cohort. For new claimants, weekly allowance rates were reduced from €204.30 to €100.
It is expected that this report will be made available early in 2019 and the results of the research will feed into the review being conducted by my Department.
I am committed to ensuring my Department operates effective measures to support young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs. The best way to do this is through active engagement processes which encourage young people to avail of educational and training opportunities to enhance their employment prospects.
The Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) which I launched in September this year is a new work experience scheme targeted exclusively at young jobseekers. All participants will receive a payment of €29.20 per week. Participants whose underlying entitlement is in excess of that amount will continue to receive their weekly payment with an additional top-up allowance of €22.50 per week.
Government policy to tackle unemployment has been effective in reducing the level of youth unemployment. Latest available monthly figures from the CSO report that the unemployment rate for persons aged 15-24 was 12.3% in November 2018, which is a significant decrease of 4 percentage points, from 16.3% in November 2016.
