Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021
285. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider extending the period of time a person can receive jobseeker’s benefit before they are means tested for jobseeker’s allowance temporarily until the job market and the economy has recovered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35442/21]
View answerThe Jobseekers Benefit and Jobseekers Allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and who are unable to find full-time employment. These statutory schemes allow individuals to work up to 3 days a week and retain access to a reduced jobseekers payment.
Jobseekers Benefit is paid for up to 9 months (or 234 days) for people with 260 or more PRSI contributions paid. It is paid for up to 6 months (or 156 days) for people with fewer than 260 PRSI contributions paid.
It is a fundamental feature of a range of the Department's benefit payments, including Jobseekers Benefit, that the payment is time-limited. Time limits apply across a range of PRSI related schemes such as maternity benefit and illness benefit.
Where a person exhausts their entitlement to Jobseekers Benefit, they may be eligible for support under the means-tested Jobseekers Allowance scheme. The Department contacts the Jobseeker's Benefit recipient in advance of the expiry date of their claim to advise them that their entitlement is due to expire and that they should make an application for Jobseekers Allowance on the attached application form.
Jobseekers Allowance has unlimited duration as long as a person meets the qualifying scheme conditions including the means test.
The wide ranging nature of the assistance available to those impacted by Covid -19, including the availability of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme for employers, constitutes a comprehensive suite of supports. On that basis I do not intend to amend the duration of Jobseeker's Benefit at this time.
I trust that this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
