87. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will remove inconsistencies and anomalies in the current jobseeker's allowance scheme which discourage people from taking up employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21699/25]

Sentiment score: -0.13

Will the Department of Social Protection remove the inconsistencies and anomalies in the current jobseeker's allowance scheme that discourage people from taking up employment. Will he give some further information on that? It is an important issue. It is something we have previously discussed. I would appreciate it if the Minister could advise the House on whether his Department plans any moves on this.

Sentiment score: 0.04

I appreciate the response. This is an important issue that has been raised by the Citizens Information Board. It was highlighted that the working-age payments scheme should be based on the working family payment model, whereby a person receives a payment based on a percentage of the difference between his or her income and the specified threshold for his or her family type. However, the board also pointed out how crucial and important the administration of the working-age payment is, given the difficulties regularly reported by CIS clients. I appreciate the information the Minister brought before the House. It is important that clarification is brought. It is a matter we discussed previously. This comes up in conversations in my constituency office, as it does for other Deputies. I look forward to working with the Minister on issues around this and other employment matters that may come up before the relevant Oireachtas committees, including the employment committee. If he can give further information in his supplementary response, I would appreciate it.

Sentiment score: 0.16

The programme for Government states that we must ensure the social protection system is work friendly and that welfare traps which inhibit people from taking up work are removed. At present, a person on jobseeker's allowance who receives an offer of part-time work may actually end up worse off financially if their hours are spread across the whole working week rather than being concentrated over three days or less. This could easily be addressed with some focus, and I appreciate the comments the Minister has made. I hope we can work on it together. I just wanted to raise the issue because I thought it was important. I appreciate the Department's response that this will be worked on in the coming weeks and months.

Sentiment score: 0.28