All jobseekers are required to engage with the Department’s activation service and this obligation applies irrespective of whether the service is provided by the Department’s own case officers or those advisors employed by external contractors such as the Local Employment Services and JobPath service providers. Failure to engage without good cause may result in the jobseeker’s payment being reduced or temporarily suspended. The legislation underpinning the application of reduced rates of payment is provided for in the Social Welfare Act 2010
As of the end of December 2017 there were 93,000 clients engaged with JobPath of which 483, or 0.5%, currently have a penalty rate applied to their claim. This figure is consistent with the overall level of penalty rate applied across all job seekers. In total since the JobPath service commenced, approximately 6,500 or 4.6% of the 141,000 clients who had engaged with the JobPath service, between July 2015 and December 2017, have had, at some point during their engagement period, a penalty rate applied to their payment.
All decisions on the application of reduced rates of payment can only be made by a deciding officer of the Department and are based on all the available evidence and the circumstances of each case. Jobseekers can request a deciding officer to review the decision or appeal the deciding officer’s decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office, SWAO. The payment of arrears of jobseeker’s payment to an individual in respect of sanctions for failing to engage with activation services will depend on the outcome of any review or appeal.
The recent court proceedings whereby an individual sought leave for judicial review to challenge decisions taken by my Department were refused by the High Court in the judgment delivered on 26January 2018. I am happy to advise the Deputy that there are no recent High Court rulings which have implications for the application of penalty rates by my Department and there are no plans to cease applying penalty rates where appropriate.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
