People turning down work over fears they would lose social welfare payments, Dáil committee told
People are turning down work because they will lose social welfare payments and other supports under the current system, a senior official has claimed.The Department of Social Protection has proposed a new working‑age payment model that would overhaul jobseeker’s allowance and change rules that currently restrict people to working three days per week.The measures, which are out for consultation, aim to remove 'cliff edges' and propose changes to the ‘four‑in‑seven’ rule, which assumes a five‑day, 9‑to‑5 working week.It will be 2029 at the earliest before a new social welfare payments system is rolled out, politicians have heard.Appearing before an Oireachtas committee, Department of Social Protection assistant secretary Niall Egan said officials were aware a "disincentive" to take up work exists in the current system."What people are is rational, people who are offered employment on the fourth day will turn around to their employer and say, 'I can't take that, because I could lose my jobseeker's allowance'."Mr Egan cited a number of instances where there was a "fairness issue"."So, as we outline in the discussion document, two individuals or two families, if one family is on jobseeker's allowance and works 20 hours over three days, they can get a €60 disregard, and they can get a tapered [reduction], depending on their income from employment, amount of jobseeker's allowance," Mr Egan told the social protection committee.
But if another family works 20 hours over five days, they're not entitled to jobseeker's allowance.
Mr Egan said the three-day work rule did not reflect modern employment patterns, which now include part-time variable work and multiple income streams. This stipulation can "discourage people from taking on additional work or penalise them when they do so"."Jobseeker's allowance income disregards are based on days worked, which can result in two people with the same weekly income receiving different payments purely due to how their hours of work are distributed across the week."He said the new system would not be based on the number of days worked but instead would allow people to get social welfare supports, "irrespective of the number of hours you're working up to an income threshold".Labour TD Mark Wall said he has been contacted by constituents who were worried about losing their medical card or fuel allowance payment if they took up extra work. He said these supports should be considered in any change to the system.Fianna Fáil's Catherine Ardagh said smaller companies now have the capacity to offer extra hours to workers, but this was sometimes turned down, which she said was "becoming a crisis" and had the potential to impact on the economy.Mr Egan said the proposed changes, which are open for public consultation until June 12, would require "significant" IT updates.Asked about a possible introduction date, he told the committee: "With a fair wind behind us, we're probably realistically looking at the end of 2028. Then you might look at the following calendar year or tax year to introduce it, so it could be early 2029."
