Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 May 2021
151. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons that moved from the pandemic unemployment payment to short-time work support jobseeker’s benefit since March 2020 to date; and the number of persons on short-time work support jobseeker’s benefit since March 2020 to date, by month in tabular form. [26743/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra152. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons that have been taken off short-time work support jobseeker’s benefit since March 2020 to date; and the number of persons accessing or being moved different social protection payments following after they have stopped receiving the benefit by type of payment in tabular form. [26744/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 152 together.
The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) is available to those who have lost their jobs due to the restrictions necessitated by the public health emergency. The Short-Time Work Support scheme is a social insurance contribution payment provided under Jobseekers Benefit, for employees temporarily placed on a shorter working week by their employer and who are not being paid for days of unemployment.
Short-time work support jobseeker’s 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. A person may requalify for Jobseekers Benefit if they have paid 13 PRSI employment contributions at the appropriate class after date of expiry of 156 days of Jobseeker’s Benefit and they have suffered a substantial loss of employment and earnings having lost at least 1 day of employment since the start of their current claim and satisfy all other statutory conditions.
Where a person exhausts their entitlement to Jobseekers Benefit/Short Time Work Support, they may be eligible for support under the Jobseeker's Allowance scheme. The Department will contact the recipient 10 weeks and 4 weeks 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. They will also be provided with an application form for Jobseekers Allowance.
Jobseekers Allowance has no duration limit as long as a person meets the qualifying scheme conditions including the means test. The maximum weekly rate of payment for Jobseekers Allowance is the maximum weekly rate as for Jobseekers Benefit, which is €203 and increases may be paid for qualifying adults and child dependents.
Over the time period requested by the Deputy (01 March 2020 to 16 May 2021), a total of 3,563 people who received a Pandemic Unemployment Payment were later supported by the Short-Time Work Support (STWS) scheme. This is set out in Table 1.
Over the same period, 10,142 people exited the STWS scheme, across 10,505 exits. Table 2 sets out the total number of exits by month, of which 3,329 people were in receipt of another social welfare payment in April 2021, and Table 3 details the payments these people received.
Table 1
|
Month |
People moving from PUP to STWS |
STWS total claims |
|
March 2020 |
18 |
970 |
|
April 2020 |
226 |
2894 |
|
May 2020 |
246 |
3852 |
|
June 2020 |
214 |
2980 |
|
July 2020 |
284 |
2747 |
|
August 2020 |
203 |
2533 |
|
September 2020 |
342 |
2577 |
|
October 2020 |
470 |
3308 |
|
November 2020 |
416 |
3850 |
|
December 2020 |
136 |
3529 |
|
January 2021 |
209 |
4034 |
|
February 2021 |
320 |
3912 |
|
March 2021 |
259 |
4265 |
|
April 2021 |
140 |
4180 |
|
to 16th May 2021 |
80 |
3753 |
|
Total |
3,563 |
49,384 |
Table 2
|
STWS Exits |
Of which are people in receipt of a payment in April 2021 |
|
|
March 2020 |
109 |
40 |
|
April 2020 |
778 |
226 |
|
May 2020 |
1522 |
406 |
|
June 2020 |
700 |
173 |
|
July 2020 |
976 |
221 |
|
August 2020 |
955 |
258 |
|
September 2020 |
756 |
249 |
|
October 2020 |
828 |
271 |
|
November 2020 |
756 |
272 |
|
December 2020 |
671 |
339 |
|
January 2021 |
561 |
169 |
|
February 2021 |
535 |
161 |
|
March 2021 |
440 |
107 |
|
April 2021 |
606 |
247 |
|
to 16th May 2021 |
312 |
190 |
|
Total |
10,505 |
3,329 |
Table 3
|
Payment |
People |
|
Back to Work /Back to Work Family Dividend |
6 |
|
Carer's Allowance |
6 |
|
Carer's Benefit |
10 |
|
Child Benefit |
2 |
|
Domiciliary Care |
28 |
|
Exceptional Needs Payment/Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
5 |
|
Illness Benefit |
250 |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance |
60 |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit* |
1,620 |
|
Maternity Benefit |
112 |
|
One Parent Family Payment |
9 |
|
Pandemic Unemployment Payment |
1,100 |
|
Parent's Benefit |
9 |
|
Part-time job incentive for the self-employed |
1 |
|
Paternity Benefit |
16 |
|
Rent Supplement |
26 |
|
State Pension Contributory |
59 |
|
Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension |
16 |
|
Total |
3,329 |
* this includes Jobseeker's Benefit, Short Time Work Support, and Jobseeker's Benefit for the Self-employed
