Joanna Tuffy
Ceist:69. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the status of the part-time job initiative; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42023/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 25 November 2015
Ceisteanna (69)
Freagraí scríofa
The part-time job incentive scheme is a non-statutory scheme, which allows people who are long-term unemployed to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a special weekly income supplement. Participants on the scheme are expected to continue to make efforts to find full-time work. There are currently 381 participants on the scheme with a budget of just under €2 million for 2015.
To qualify for the part-time job incentive scheme a person must be in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for at least 390 days. In addition, a person must have been in receipt of a higher jobseeker's payment rate than the appropriate part-time job incentive supplement payable. The part-time job incentive supplement rate is €119 per week for a single person and €193.90 per week where an individual was getting an increase for a qualified adult. There is no increase for qualified children.
I recently sought and received special sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to extend the part time job incentive scheme to customers who have exited the one parent family payment due to the scheme reforms. This sanction is specifically for former one-parent family payment recipients whose youngest child is aged 14 or over, who are working more than 3 days out of 7 and, as such would not be entitled to jobseeker’s allowance. This particular extension to the scheme will be available to participants for one year giving them time to increase their hours to 19 per week and qualify for the family income supplement.
Of the 25,500 customers who exited the one-parent family payment scheme in July 2015, my Department has recently written to 392 customers who, due to their specific work pattern and the age of their youngest child, may benefit financially from availing of the part time job incentive scheme. These customers have been invited to meet a case officer in their local Intreo Centre to discuss their situation.