Where both members of a couple are claiming social welfare payments and one or both of the claimants is in receipt of jobseekers allowance (JA), farm assist or pre-retirement allowance their combined payments cannot exceed the amount which would be payable if only one person was being paid with an increase for a qualified adult dependant, where appropriate. In this situation one or both of the payments would be limited to ensure that the relevant household rate of payment would not be exceeded. The removal of the limitation for the approximately 5,700 cases affected would have a direct cost of €19.8m in a full year.
The removal of the limitation would also provide an incentive to all those for whom qualified adult increase is currently in payment to claim JA in their own right, subject to being available for full-time employment. In the majority of cases this would result in an increase of €66.50 per week in 2008 terms. This development would have significant implications, both in terms of increased cost and live register numbers as it would apply (subject to means assessment) to qualified adults of working age across a range of schemes in addition to those currently affected by the limitation rule. There is a total of some 57,000 payments in this grouping, with additional potential costs estimated at up to €197m per annum in the case of 100% take-up.
The Government discussion paper: Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, published in March 2006, outlines proposals for reform of income support arrangements for lone parents and low income families. It proposes a new allowance for all low income families with children under a specified age. This allowance would replace both the current one-parent family payment and the social assistance qualified adult allowance. In these circumstances no limitation would apply where the new allowance recipient cohabits with a person in receipt of a social assistance payment, e.g. jobseeker's allowance.
Lifting limitation for this limited period of time would have the effect of increasing household income in such situations by up to €66.50 per week, recognising the higher costs associated with care of young children. It would also assist in addressing the problem of poverty among children in low income families. Any proposal to abolish the limitation rule in full could only be considered in a budgetary context and in the light of competing priorities.