Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1234. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person on a part-time and or full-time community employment scheme may claim the working family payment; if not, the basis on which they cannot claim the payment. [40578/22]
View answerCommunity Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in work within their communities on a temporary, fixed-term basis, to improve their prospect of returning to employment. The CE scheme enables participants to make a significant contribution to their communities while upskilling themselves for prospective future employment.
The Working Family Payment is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees, with children, who are on low earnings. It is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependents and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. One of the qualifying conditions for Working Family Payment is that a person must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee. This requirement is set out in Section 231 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 (as amended).
Article 175 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) Regulations 2007 (as amended) provides the circumstances in which a person is regarded as being in remunerative full-time employment for the purposes of the Working Family Payment. These circumstances exclude participants on certain employment schemes. Specifically, Article 175(2)(a) provides that remunerative full-time employment shall not include participation on a Community Employment Scheme.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
