{"id":19859,"date":"2022-10-31T21:57:08","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T21:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/?p=19859"},"modified":"2024-04-08T21:59:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T21:59:41","slug":"activation-measures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/","title":{"rendered":"Activation Measures"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#Back_to_Work_Allowance\" title=\"Back to Work Allowance\">Back to Work Allowance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#Training_Course\" title=\"Training Course\">Training Course<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#Part-Time_Job_Incentive\" title=\"Part-Time Job Incentive\">Part-Time Job Incentive<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#Short-Term_Enterprise_Allowance\" title=\"Short-Term Enterprise Allowance\">Short-Term Enterprise Allowance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#Work_Placement\" title=\"Work Placement\">Work Placement<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#Short-Term_Enterprise_Allowance-2\" title=\"Short-Term Enterprise Allowance\">Short-Term Enterprise Allowance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#JobBridge\" title=\"JobBridge\">JobBridge<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#PRSI_Scheme\" title=\"PRSI Scheme\">PRSI Scheme<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/#Job_Assist\" title=\"Job Assist\">Job Assist<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#SWCA_2005\" title=\"SWCA 2005\">SWCA 2005<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Unemployment_Assistance_ss_140-148A\" title=\"Unemployment Assistance (ss. 140-148A)\">Unemployment Assistance (ss. 140-148A)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Interpretation\" title=\"Interpretation.\">Interpretation.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Entitlement_to_assistance\" title=\"Entitlement to assistance.\">Entitlement to assistance.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Refusal_or_failure_to_attend_activation_meetings_relating_to_jobseekers_allowance\" title=\"Refusal or failure to attend activation meetings relating to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance.\">Refusal or failure to attend activation meetings relating to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Refusal_or_failure_to_participate_in_prescribed_schemes_programmes_or_courses_relating_to_jobseekers_allowance\" title=\"Refusal or failure to participate in prescribed schemes, programmes or courses relating to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance.\">Refusal or failure to participate in prescribed schemes, programmes or courses relating to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Giving_of_notice_under_section_141A_or_141B\" title=\"Giving of notice under section 141A or 141B.\">Giving of notice under section 141A or 141B.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Rates_of_allowance_and_effect_of_means_on_rates\" title=\"Rates of allowance and effect of means on rates.\">Rates of allowance and effect of means on rates.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Rates_of_assistance_ages_18_and_19_years\" title=\"Rates of assistance ages 18 and 19 years.\">Rates of assistance ages 18 and 19 years.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Regulations\" title=\"Regulations.\">Regulations.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Total_amount_payable_to_a_couple\" title=\"Total amount payable to a couple.\">Total amount payable to a couple.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Certain_claims\" title=\"Certain claims.\">Certain claims.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Amount_of_increases_payable_in_respect_of_qualified_child_in_certain_cases\" title=\"Amount of increases payable in respect of qualified child in certain cases.\">Amount of increases payable in respect of qualified child in certain cases.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Disqualifications\" title=\"Disqualifications.\">Disqualifications.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-24\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Disqualifications_%E2%80%93_attending_a_course_of_study\" title=\"Disqualifications &#8211; attending a course of study.\">Disqualifications &#8211; attending a course of study.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-25\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Entitlement_to_jobseekers_allowance_in_certain_circumstances\" title=\"Entitlement to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in certain circumstances.\">Entitlement to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in certain circumstances.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-26\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Pre-Retirement_Allowance_ss_149-151\" title=\"Pre-Retirement Allowance (ss. 149-151)\">Pre-Retirement Allowance (ss. 149-151)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-27\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Entitlement_to_allowance\" title=\"Entitlement to allowance.\">Entitlement to allowance.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-28\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Rate_of_allowance_including_increases_for_qualified_adult_and_qualified_children\" title=\"Rate of allowance (including increases for qualified adult and qualified children).\">Rate of allowance (including increases for qualified adult and qualified children).<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-29\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Regulations-2\" title=\"Regulations.\">Regulations.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-30\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Continued_Payment_for_Qualified_Children_ss_234-238\" title=\"Continued Payment for Qualified Children (ss. 234-238)\">Continued Payment for Qualified Children (ss. 234-238)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-31\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Entitlement_to_payment\" title=\"Entitlement to payment.\">Entitlement to payment.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-32\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Weekly_rate_of_payment\" title=\"Weekly rate of payment.\">Weekly rate of payment.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-33\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Period_of_payment\" title=\"Period of payment.\">Period of payment.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-34\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/activation-measures\/2\/#Disqualification\" title=\"Disqualification.\">Disqualification.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Back_to_Work_Allowance\"><\/span>Back to Work Allowance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The back to work enterprise allowance is a weekly payment to unemployed persons who have commenced a business.\u00a0 They retain full social welfare payment for the first year and 75 percent in the second year.\u00a0 It is not taxed or subject to PRSI. The business venture must be viable and sustainable.\u00a0 It must be approved in writing by a local development company or facilitator.<\/p>\n<p>The applicant must have Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit for 12 months with an underlying entitlement to Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance or Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance for 12 months or illness benefit for three years or one parent family disability allowance, blind pension, Farm Assist incapacity supplement, pre-retirement allowance, invalidity pension, carer&#8217;s allowance, widow or widowers non-contributory pension, deserted wives benefit, or prisoners wives allowance for at least 12 months.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Training_Course\"><\/span>Training Course<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Time spent on training courses with Solas Failte Ireland community employment scheme, rural social scheme, community service program, national internship, \u00a0work placement programs, job initiative, back to education or VTOS count as a period of unemployment.\u00a0 A person may not avail of the scheme twice within a five-year period.<\/p>\n<p>Participants in the scheme may retain secondary benefits which they have prior to going on the scheme provided they satisfy a household income means test. It is \u00a0paid by direct payment into an account or financial institution or at a post office.\u00a0 An application must be made in advance to the local development company or facilitator.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Part-Time_Job_Incentive\"><\/span>Part-Time Job Incentive<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The part time job incentive scheme may allow a person who has been long-term unemployed to receive a weekly allowance instead of jobseekers payment after he takes up a part time job. The applicant must obtain part time employment under 24 hours a week and undertake to stay on the scheme for at least two months.<\/p>\n<p>The job must be insurable as Class A or J.\u00a0 Prior to commencing, the person must have been receiving jobseekers payments for 15 months or more at a higher rate than the part time job incentive rate applicable.<\/p>\n<p>A personal rate of payment is made instead of job seekers payment.\u00a0 In this payment earnings are not assessed.\u00a0 A qualified adult increment may be available. The payment is made at the post office.\u00a0 A weekly declaration is required as to hours worked to the \u00a0Department of Social Protection.<\/p>\n<p>The maximum stay on the scheme is one year.\u00a0 It may be extended.\u00a0 A person on the scheme must continue to seek full time employment. No secondary benefits are kept.\u00a0 A medical card may be retained regardless of earnings up to a maximum of three years. A person working at least 19 hours a week with one qualified child may also be entitled to family income supplement.<\/p>\n<p>Persons under the part time job incentive scheme are entitled to a special allowance equivalent to Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance. The claim is investigated by a social welfare officer to determine eligibility.\u00a0 The scheme is non-statutory and there is no right to a social welfare appeals office appeal.\u00a0 The person may seek to refer the matter to another officer in the \u00a0Department for review.<\/p>\n<p>The person must sign a declaration that he works for less than 24 hours a week.\u00a0 Forms must be completed on a weekly basis to continue qualifying under the scheme.\u00a0 Employers must complete a form and return it every four weeks.\u00a0 The scheme may last for up to one year.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Short-Term_Enterprise_Allowance\"><\/span>Short-Term Enterprise Allowance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The short-term enterprise allowance scheme may be available to a person who wishes to commence a sustainable business. The scheme applies to \u00a0a self-employed business.\u00a0 It must be viable and sustainable and can be accessed immediately.<\/p>\n<p>The scheme is available to persons entitled to Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit.\u00a0 Payment continues to be \u00a0made at the appropriate Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit rate and the last for the remainder of the social insurance period claim. The claim must be preapproved by the local development company or facilitator.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Work_Placement\"><\/span>Work Placement<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Work Placement program allows unemployed persons the opportunity to work for nine months experience at a work placement with a business.\u00a0 They retain their social welfare status for a maximum of nine months during this period.<\/p>\n<p>Placements must be for a minimum of 25 hours per week.\u00a0 It is available for persons receiving Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance or Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit.\u00a0 They must be in receipt of social welfare payments or at least three months.<\/p>\n<p>There are two streams in the work placement program. Stream 1 of the program requires that the person has a qualification at level 5 of the national framework of qualifications including graduates.\u00a0 It&#8217;s not necessary to be in receipt of social welfare payment. Certain stream 2 payments are reserved for persons under 34 years.<\/p>\n<p>It is necessary to notify the placement to the \u00a0Department.\u00a0 No payment from the employer is permitted. The qualifying payments covered include Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance and benefit, disability benefit, illness benefit, one parent family payment, deserted wife&#8217;s benefit, supplementary welfare allowance. In the case of certain other disability and injury type benefits it is necessary to obtain consent from the \u00a0Department in advance.<\/p>\n<p>It is necessary to give a job through a placement provider and the \u00a0Department one week\u2019s notice of leaving. If the position qualifies under the employer job PRSI incentive scheme or after three months of work placement, the person may qualify as an eligible worker under the scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Employers in the public, private and voluntary services sectors are eligible.\u00a0 They must register with the \u00a0Department.\u00a0 The maximum number of placements is ten or ten percent of the workforce whichever is lower.\u00a0 The placement must be a minimum of 25 hours.\u00a0 It must be in an area of where there is no existing vacancy.<\/p>\n<p>Employers are not eligible to participate if they have\u00a0 had \u00a0redundancies in the previous three months, unless they qualify with certain conditions. \u00a0In smaller firms, \u00a0below-30 employees, one, two or three placements may be permitted.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Short-Term_Enterprise_Allowance-2\"><\/span>Short-Term Enterprise Allowance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The short-term enterprise allowance is available with no qualifying period for those in receipt of Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit.\u00a0 It is allowed instead of benefit for a maximum of one year. In order for qualify, a person must have 104 weeks\u2019 paid PRSI contributions and be entitled to Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit.\u00a0 A business plan must be approved in writing by a jobs facilitator, a local partnership company or integrated local development company. The employment must not be seasonal, temporary or part time.<\/p>\n<p>A person may receive a employment grants from the Local Enterprise Office \u00a0or integrated local development company, which do not affect entitlement to short term enterprise allowance.\u00a0 There is a technical assistance and training fund which helps persons getting the allowance with costs involved in job starting.\u00a0 There is no automatic allowance entitlement. Assistance may be facilitated and approved by the jobs facilitator at the social welfare office.<\/p>\n<p>The allowance replaces Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit for the person concerned.\u00a0 Short term enterprise allowance is paid at the same rate, including adult and child dependents.\u00a0 It ends when the entitlement to Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit ends.\u00a0 The allowance is subject to \u00a0income tax as is Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Secondary benefits may be retained subject to continuing compliance with the conditions.\u00a0 Increases in income may affect entitlement to rent supplement or mortgage interest relief.<\/p>\n<p>If the applicant lives in an area covered by a integrated local development company or local partnership company, an application should be made to the enterprise officer in that area.\u00a0 Otherwise, it should be made to a jobs facilitator in the social welfare local office.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"JobBridge\"><\/span>JobBridge<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Gradlink is operated by the Irish Business and Employers&#8217; Confederation.\u00a0 It is designed to assist in improving skills.\u00a0 The applicant retains social welfare payments for a duration of placement for up to 9 months.\u00a0 This scheme has evolved into the jobbridge scheme mentioned below. On 21 October 2016, the JobBridge scheme was closed down.<\/p>\n<p>The short-term working training program provides for two days training a week over a one-year period.\u00a0 Workers who are on systematic short-term working for three days a week and receiving social welfare payments for two days, receive training under the scheme for two days.\u00a0 They continue to receive their existing social welfare entitlements.<\/p>\n<p>The employer PRSI incentive scheme exempts employers from liability in respect of employers PRSI for certain employees.\u00a0 They are exempted for a maximum of 18 months from the date of the approval.\u00a0 The scheme was operative 1st January 2012.<\/p>\n<p>The 2013 budget anticipates a new scheme that would replace job assist and employers PRSI incentive scheme.\u00a0 It is termed the plus one \u00a0initiative.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PRSI_Scheme\"><\/span>PRSI Scheme<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Under the employers job PRSI incentive scheme the job created, and the person employed must meet criteria.\u00a0 Approval is required under the scheme and PRSI must be operated pending approval. The job must be a new and additional post.\u00a0 It must not substitute an existing employee.\u00a0 It must be for at least 30 hours a week and last six months.<\/p>\n<p>The person employed must have been getting social welfare payments for at least six months either jobseekers, disability or one parent family allowance.\u00a0 Employees may also be employed directly from jobbridge \u00a0or under the work placement program provided the 156 days criteria is established. Time spent on various schemes count towards the six months.<\/p>\n<p>The exemption is available only for a limited number of employees.\u00a0 There is a maximum of 5 percent of the workforce.\u00a0 For new companies, a maximum of five new jobs is permitted.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Job_Assist\"><\/span>Job Assist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Revenue Job Assist allows employees additional tax credits for three years.\u00a0 It allows employers a double wage deduction in their accounts in computing corporation profit tax.\u00a0 The deduction reduces the overall business profit by allowing the double deduction. Jobs must be for a minimum of 30 hours a week and be capable of lasting for years.<\/p>\n<p>The person recruited must have been unemployed for 12 months or more.\u00a0 The double deduction may last for three years.\u00a0 It applies to wages paid to a qualifying employee in a qualifying employment and the PRSI contributions paid on such wages.\u00a0 It may be claimed in addition to the PRSI incentive scheme.<\/p>\n<p>It does not apply to jobs, over 75 percent of the earnings of which \u00a0are based on commission.\u00a0 It does not apply to jobs aided by other agencies whether statutory or not or supported under other \u00a0Department of Social Protection schemes.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0It may not be taken up by a proprietary director, spouse or civil partner of such person.\u00a0 It must not be in an employment where no workforce is required.<\/p>\n<p>It does not apply if the previous holder has been unfairly dismissed. The scheme is not available where any employees are made of redundant in the 26 weeks prior to commencement of new employment.\u00a0 This may apply where a case of genuine replacement can be shown, where an employee retires or voluntarily leaves employment.<\/p>\n<p>The person employed must be unemployed for at least 12 months prior to the commencement of employment.\u00a0 He must be in receipt of Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance, one parent family, disability benefit, injury benefit or invalidity pension.\u00a0 Time spent on certain courses qualifies as periods of unemployment for Revenue Job Assist.<\/p>\n<p>The employed person gets additional tax allowances under the scheme.\u00a0 There is extra personal tax allowances and a child tax allowance for each qualifying child.\u00a0 This decreases steadily over three years, dropping by approximately one-third each year. A employee who changes employment during the three years can keep the allowance provided he takes up another qualifying job.\u00a0 Otherwise, taking another job will cause him to lose the allowance.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>SWCA 2005<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chapter 2<\/p>\n<h4>Unemployment Assistance (ss. 140-148A)<\/h4>\n<p>140.<\/p>\n<h4>Interpretation.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)In this Chapter &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;beneficiary&#8221; means a person entitled to jobseeker\u2019s allowance;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;weekly means&#8221;, subject to subsection (2) and Rule 1(1), (5), (6) or (7), as the case may be, of Part 2 of Schedule 3 shall be the yearly means divided by 52 but the amount so calculated shall be rounded up to the nearest \u20ac1 where it is a multiple of 50 cent but not also a multiple of \u20ac1 and shall be rounded to the nearest \u20ac1 where it is not a multiple of 50 cent or \u20ac1.<\/p>\n<p>(2)In this Chapter references to means shall be read as references to means as calculated in accordance with the Rules contained in Part 2 of Schedule 3.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Where, immediately before 29 July 1992, a person was entitled to or in receipt of jobseeker\u2019s allowance, any decision by a deciding officer or an appeals officer in relation to the means of that person for the purposes of that person qualifying for a qualification certificate is deemed to be a decision under section 141 (1) (c).<\/p>\n<p>141.<\/p>\n<h4>Entitlement to assistance.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Subject to this Act, a person shall be entitled to jobseeker\u2019s allowance in respect of any week of unemployment where &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)the person has attained the age of 18 years and has not attained pensionable age,<\/p>\n<p>(b)the person proves unemployment in the prescribed manner, and<\/p>\n<p>(c)the person&#8217;s weekly means, subject to subsection (2)(d), do not exceed the amount of jobseeker\u2019s allowance (including any increases of jobseeker\u2019s allowance) that would be payable to the person under this Chapter if that person had no means.<\/p>\n<p>(1A)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(b), for the purposes of that subsection a person may prove unemployment and may make a declaration for that purpose, by means of an electronic communication, in the prescribed manner.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)Otherwise than as provided for in regulations, a person shall not be entitled to jobseeker\u2019s allowance in respect of the first 3 days of unemployment in any continuous period of unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>(b)For the purpose of this section, any period before the relevant date of application for jobseeker\u2019s allowance shall not be reckoned as, or as part of, a continuous period of unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>(c)Any period during which a person is disqualified for receiving jobseeker\u2019s allowance shall not be reckoned in the computation of any continuous period of unemployment of that person.<\/p>\n<p>(ca)Where the spouse of a claimant for jobseeker&#8217;s allowance is a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant referred to in Part 6, and is in receipt of a payment under Part 6, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.<\/p>\n<p>(d)Subject to paragraph (e), where the spouse of a claimant for jobseeker&#8217;s allowance is a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant referred to in any of subparagraphs (iii) to (vii) of section 2(2)(a), the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.<\/p>\n<p>(e)Notwithstanding paragraph (d), where, in the 4 weeks immediately before the commencement of section 9 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 a person was entitled to or in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in respect of any day of unemployment and the spouse of the claimant for jobseeker&#8217;s allowance is not the claimant&#8217;s qualified adult, or is a spouse in respect of whom an increase is payable by virtue of regulations made under section 297, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means or the means calculated in accordance with paragraph (d), whichever is the more favourable.<\/p>\n<p>(f)Where the means of a claimant are calculated at any time in accordance with paragraph (e) and are subsequently calculated in accordance with paragraph (d), paragraph (e) shall no longer apply to the claimant.<\/p>\n<p>(g)Where for any period of not less than 4 consecutive weeks after the commencement of section 9 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007, a claimant whose means were calculated in accordance with paragraph (e) ceases to be entitled to or in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance, paragraph (d) shall apply to any subsequent claims.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Subject to subsection (3A), in this Chapter, any 4 days of unemployment, whether consecutive or not, within a period of 7 consecutive days shall be treated as a week of unemployment and any 2 such weeks not separated by more than 52 weeks shall be treated as one continuous period of unemployment, and references in this Chapter to being continuously unemployed or to continuous unemployment shall be read accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>(3A)For the purposes of this section &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)jobseeker\u2019s allowance shall be paid for the payment week in which the last day of unemployment, which forms a week of unemployment, falls,<\/p>\n<p>(b)where in any payment week jobseeker\u2019s allowance is payable in respect of a week of unemployment &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)any day of unemployment which forms part of such week of unemployment, but which does not fall within that payment week, and<\/p>\n<p>(ii)any other day of unemployment occurring in that payment week,<\/p>\n<p>shall not be taken into account in establishing any other week of unemployment, and<\/p>\n<p>(c)where, in any payment week, jobseeker\u2019s allowance is payable in respect of a week of unemployment, the weekly means of that person derived from employment (other than employment as a retained fire fighter) under a contract of service, shall be determined by reference to the number of days worked in that payment week.<\/p>\n<p>(3B)Notwithstanding subsection (3), for the purposes of payment of jobseeker\u2019s allowance, in subsection (3A), \u2018payment week\u2019 shall be construed as a 6 day week commencing on the Wednesday of one week and ending on the Tuesday of the following week.<\/p>\n<p>(3C)For the purposes of section 67(8), where in any week of unemployment a person is entitled to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)in respect of 7 days of unemployment, the number of days of unemployment in respect of which jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be treated as though it were a day in respect of which jobseeker&#8217;s benefit was paid shall be 6, and<\/p>\n<p>(b)in respect of less than 7 days of unemployment, the number of days of unemployment in respect of which jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be treated as though it were a day in respect of which jobseeker&#8217;s benefit was paid shall be 6, reduced by the number of days in that payment week which are not days which form part of a continuous period of unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>(4)For the purposes of this Chapter, a day shall not be treated in relation to any person as a day of unemployment unless on that day, the person &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)is capable of work,<\/p>\n<p>(b)is, or by reason of the person\u2019s participation in an activity prescribed for the purposes of this subsection and subject to any conditions that may be prescribed, is deemed to be, or is exempted from being required to be, available for employment, and<\/p>\n<p>(c)is genuinely seeking, but is unable to obtain, suitable employment having regard to the person&#8217;s age, physique, education, normal occupation, place of residence and family circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>(d)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(5)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(6)Notwithstanding subsection (3), any period of continuous &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)employment under a scheme provided by the Minister and known as Community Employment,<\/p>\n<p>(b)employment under a scheme provided by the Minister and known as the Rural Social Scheme,<\/p>\n<p>(c)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(d)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(e)attendance at an approved course of training,<\/p>\n<p>(f)participation in a scheme administered by the Commission of the European Union and known as the European Voluntary Service Initiative,<\/p>\n<p>(g)participation in a scheme administered by the Minister and known as the Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme,<\/p>\n<p>(h)participation in a scheme administered by the Minister for Education and Science and known as the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme,<\/p>\n<p>(i)participation in, employment under or attendance at a prescribed scheme or course, or<\/p>\n<p>(j)receipt of or entitlement to pre-retirement allowance,<\/p>\n<p>shall be disregarded in treating, under subsection (3), any 2 continuous periods of unemployment not separated by more than 52 weeks as one continuous period of unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>(7)Regulations may make provision as to the days which are or are not to be treated for the purposes of jobseeker\u2019s allowance as days of unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>(8)Subsection (2)(a) shall not apply in relation to the payment of jobseeker\u2019s allowance to a person who ceased, not earlier than 52 weeks before the day in respect of which his or her application for jobseeker\u2019s allowance is made, to be entitled to jobseeker\u2019s benefit or jobseeker\u2019s benefit (self-employed) &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)by reason of having, by virtue of section 67 or 68H, exhausted his or her entitlement to that benefit, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)where the person is of or over 65 years of age, by reason of having failed to satisfy the contribution condition in section 64(1)(b) or 68D(1)(b).<\/p>\n<p>(9)A person shall not be entitled to jobseeker\u2019s allowance under this section unless he or she is habitually resident in the State.<\/p>\n<p>141A.<\/p>\n<h4>Refusal or failure to attend activation meetings relating to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Notice may be given by or on behalf of the Minister to any person receiving jobseeker\u2019s allowance requesting the person, at the time specified in the notice, to comply with the requirement specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (3).<\/p>\n<p>(2)Where a person refuses or fails, without good cause, to comply with the requirement specified in the notice under subsection (1) at the time specified in that notice, or at any time thereafter as may be determined by or on behalf of the Minister and notified to the person, the weekly rate of jobseeker\u2019s allowance payable to that person in respect of any such period of refusal or failure shall, subject to this section, be as set out in section 142(1A) or, as the case may be, section 142A(1A).<\/p>\n<p>(3)A notice under this section may require the person to whom it is given to do one of the following, at the time specified in the notice, or at any time thereafter as may be determined by or on behalf of the Minister and notified to the person &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)attend at a meeting arranged by or on behalf of the Minister for the purpose of providing information to that person which is intended to improve his or her knowledge of the employment, work experience, education, training and development opportunities available to that person, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)attend for or submit to an assessment of that person\u2019s education, training or development needs.<\/p>\n<p>(4)Where jobseeker\u2019s allowance is paid to a person at the weekly rate set out in section 142(1A) or, as the case may be, section 142A(1A) on account of a refusal or failure to comply with the requirement specified in the notice under subsection (1) for a period of not less than 21 days, notice may be given by or on behalf of the Minister to that person requesting him or her, at the time specified in the notice, to comply with that requirement.<\/p>\n<p>(5)Where a person refuses or fails, without good cause, to comply with the requirement specified in the notice under subsection (4) at the time specified in that notice, or at any time thereafter as may be determined by or on behalf of the Minister and notified to the person, that person shall be disqualified for receiving jobseeker\u2019s allowance for any period of continued refusal or failure commencing on the date specified in the notice under subsection (4), but such period of disqualification shall, subject to subsection (6), not exceed 9 weeks.<\/p>\n<p>(6)Nothing in this section shall prevent the provisions of subsections (1) to (5) being applied to a person where, on or after the expiration of such period of disqualification as is applied in accordance with subsection (5) &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)notice has been given by or on behalf of the Minister to that person requesting him or her, at the time specified in the notice, to comply with the requirement referred to in subsection (1), and<\/p>\n<p>(b)that person continues, without good cause, to refuse or fail to comply with that requirement.<\/p>\n<p>(7)Where, on the commencement of section 13 of the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013, jobseeker\u2019s allowance is being paid to a person at the weekly rate set out in section 142(1A) or, as the case may be, section 142A(1A) for a period of not less than 21 days &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)a notice may be given by or on behalf of the Minister to that person requesting him or her, at the time specified in the notice, to comply with the requirement specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (3), and<\/p>\n<p>(b)subsections (4) to (6) shall apply to that person where he or she refuses or fails, without good cause, to comply with that requirement at or after the time specified in the notice under paragraph (a) of this subsection, or at any time thereafter as may be determined by or on behalf of the Minister and notified to the person.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>141B.<\/p>\n<h4>Refusal or failure to participate in prescribed schemes, programmes or courses relating to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Where &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)as a consequence of attendance for or submission to an assessment in accordance with section 141A(3)(b), a request is made by or on behalf of the Minister to that person to participate in, agree to participate in or avail himself or herself of an opportunity of participating in &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)any scheme or programme of employment or work experience, or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)a course of education, training or development,<\/p>\n<p>which is prescribed for the purposes of this section and which is considered appropriate having regard to the education, training and development needs of that person and his or her personal circumstances, and<\/p>\n<p>(b)that person refuses or fails, without good cause, to participate in, agree to participate in or avail himself or herself of an opportunity of participating in such a scheme, programme or course, as the case may be,<\/p>\n<p>the weekly rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance payable to that person in respect of any such period of refusal or failure shall, subject to this section, be as set out in section 142(1A) or, as the case may be, section 142A(1A).<\/p>\n<p>(2)Where jobseeker&#8217;s allowance is paid to a person at the weekly rate set out in section 142(1A) or, as the case may be, section 142A(1A) on account of a refusal or failure referred to in subsection (1) &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)notice may be given by or on behalf of the Minister to that person requesting him or her, at the time specified in the notice, to attend for or submit to an assessment of that person&#8217;s education, training or development needs, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)a request may be made by or on behalf of the Minister to that person to participate in, agree to participate in or avail himself or herself of an opportunity of participating in &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)any scheme or programme of employment or work experience, or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)a course of education, training or development,<\/p>\n<p>which is prescribed for the purposes of this section and which is considered appropriate having regard to the education, training and development needs of that person and his or her personal circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Where a person refuses or fails, without good cause, to &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)comply with the requirement specified in the notice under subsection (2) (a) at the time specified in that notice, or at any time thereafter as may be determined by or on behalf of the Minister and notified to the person, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)participate in, agree to participate in or avail himself or herself of an opportunity of participating in any scheme, programme or course referred to in subsection (2)(b),<\/p>\n<p>that person shall be disqualified for receiving jobseeker&#8217;s allowance for any period of such refusal or failure commencing on &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)the date specified in the notice under subsection (2)(a), or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)the date of refusal or failure to participate in, to agree to participate in or to avail himself or herself of an opportunity of participating in any scheme, programme or course referred to in subsection (2)(b),<\/p>\n<p>as the case may be, but such period of disqualification shall, subject to subsection (4), not exceed 9 weeks.<\/p>\n<p>(4)Nothing in this section shall prevent the provisions of subsections (1) to (3) being applied to a person where, on or after the expiration of such period of disqualification as is applied in accordance with subsection (3) &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)notice has been given by or on behalf of the Minister to that person requesting him or her, at the time specified in the notice, to comply with the requirement referred to in subsection (2)(a), or<\/p>\n<p>(b)a request has been made by or on behalf of the Minister to that person to participate in, agree to participate in or avail himself or herself of an opportunity of participating in any scheme, programme or course referred to in subsection (2)(b),<\/p>\n<p>as the case may be, and that person continues, without good cause, to refuse or fail to &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)comply with the requirement specified in the notice under paragraph (a) at the time specified in that notice, or at any time thereafter as may be determined by or on behalf of the Minister and notified to the person, or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)participate in, agree to participate in or avail himself or herself of an opportunity of participating in any scheme, programme or course referred to in paragraph (b).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>141C.<\/p>\n<h4>Giving of notice under section 141A or 141B.<\/h4>\n<p>A notice under section 141A or 141B shall be given in writing and may be given in such other form as may be considered appropriate, including electronic form.<\/p>\n<p>142.<\/p>\n<h4>Rates of allowance and effect of means on rates.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Subject to this section and to sections 142A, 144 and 146, the rate (in this Chapter referred to as &#8220;the scheduled rate&#8221;) of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)in the case of a person who &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)in any continuous period of unemployment, as read in accordance with section 141 (3), has been in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s benefit or jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in respect of not less than 390 days of unemployment, or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)immediately before the week of unemployment for which jobseeker&#8217;s allowance is claimed, was in receipt of &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(I)one-parent family payment, but has ceased to be entitled to that allowance by virtue of no longer being regarded as a qualified parent within the meaning of section 172 (1), or<\/p>\n<p>(IA)widow&#8217;s (non-contributory) pension, widower&#8217;s (non-contributory) pension or surviving civil partner&#8217;s (non-contributory) pension, but has ceased to be entitled to that pension by virtue of no longer being regarded as a widow, widower or surviving civil partner within the meaning of section 162(1), or<\/p>\n<p>(II)carer&#8217;s allowance, but has ceased to be entitled to that allowance by virtue of no longer being regarded as a carer within the meaning of section 179 (1),<\/p>\n<p>the weekly rate set out in column (2) at reference 1(a) in Part 1 of Schedule 4, increased by the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this paragraph in respect of more than one person, and increased by the appropriate amount set out in column (4) of that Part opposite that reference in respect of each qualified child who has not attained the age of 12 years who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary, or as the case may be, increased by the appropriate amount set out in column (5) of that Part opposite that reference in respect of each qualified child who has attained the age of 12 years who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)in any other case, the weekly rate set out in column (2) at reference 1(b) in Part 1 of Schedule 4, increased by &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this subparagraph in respect of more than one person, and<\/p>\n<p>(ii)the appropriate amount set out &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(I)in column (4) of that Part opposite that reference in respect of each qualified child who has not attained the age of 12 years who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary, and<\/p>\n<p>(II)in column (5) of that Part opposite that reference in respect of each qualified child who has attained the age of 12 years who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary.<\/p>\n<p>(1A)Subject to this Act and notwithstanding subsection (1), in the case of a person to whom subsection (2) or (6) of section 141A or subsection (1) or (4) of section 141B refers, the scheduled rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be reduced and accordingly shall be the weekly rate as set out in column (2) at reference 1(b) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 which shall be reduced in each week by \u20ac44, increased by &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this paragraph in respect of more than one person, and<\/p>\n<p>(b)the appropriate amount set out &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)in column (4) of that Part opposite that reference in respect of each qualified child who has not attained the age of 12 years who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary, and<\/p>\n<p>(ii)in column (5) of that Part opposite that reference in respect of each qualified child who has attained the age of 12 years who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)Subject to paragraph (b), jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be payable where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)are less than \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate,<\/p>\n<p>(ii)are equal to \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate reduced by \u20ac1, and<\/p>\n<p>(iii)exceed \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate, reduced by \u20ac1 for each amount (if any) of \u20ac1 by which those weekly means exceed \u20ac1.<\/p>\n<p>(b)Where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary are equal to or exceed the scheduled rate, no jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be payable.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Notwithstanding subsection (2)(a)(iii) and section 142A(a)(iii), where the sole means of a claimant for jobseeker&#8217;s allowance, who is not one of a couple, are assessed under Rule 1(10) of Part 2 of Schedule 3 and where the rate of allowance payable to or in respect of the claimant, as calculated in accordance with subsection (2)(a)(iii) and section 142A(a)(iii), would be a weekly amount which is 10 cent or more, but less than \u20ac40, the claimant shall be entitled to payment of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance at the weekly rate of \u20ac40.<\/p>\n<p>(4)<\/p>\n<p>In subsection (3) &#8220;couple&#8221; means &#8211;<br \/>\n(a)a married couple who are living together,<br \/>\n(b)both civil partners of the same civil partnership who are living together, or<br \/>\n(c)both cohabitants.<\/p>\n<p>(5)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(6)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(7)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>142A.<\/p>\n<h4>Rates of assistance ages 18 and 19 years.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Notwithstanding section 142(1), in the case of a person who &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)has attained the age of 18 years and has not attained the age of 25 years,<\/p>\n<p>(b)is not a person referred to in section 142(1)(a)(ii) (as amended by section 20 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007), and<\/p>\n<p>(c)is not entitled to an increase in respect of a qualified child,<\/p>\n<p>the scheduled rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be the weekly rate set out in column (2) at reference 1(c) in Part 1 of Schedule 4, (as inserted by section 11(a) of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2009) increased by the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this subsection in respect of more than one person.<\/p>\n<p>(1A)Subject to this Act and notwithstanding subsection (1), in the case of a person to whom subsection (2) or (6) of section 141A or subsection (1) or (4) of section 141B refers, the scheduled rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be reduced and accordingly shall be the weekly rate as set out in column (2) at reference 1(c) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 which shall be reduced in each week by \u20ac25, increased by the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this subsection in respect of more than one person.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)In the case of a person referred to in subsection (1), or subsection (1A) and subject to paragraph (b), jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be payable where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)are less than \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate,<\/p>\n<p>(ii)are equal to \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate reduced by \u20ac1, and<\/p>\n<p>(iii)exceed \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate, reduced by \u20ac1 for each amount (if any) of \u20ac1 by which those weekly means exceed \u20ac1.<\/p>\n<p>(b)Where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary are equal to or exceed the scheduled rate, no jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be payable.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Section 144 shall not apply to payments made in accordance with this section.<\/p>\n<p>(4)This section shall not apply in the case of a claim for jobseeker&#8217;s allowance where &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)the period of unemployment commenced on or before 30 December 2009 and where, in the period prior to that date, the claimant was not a person to whom this section applied,<\/p>\n<p>(aa)the period of unemployment commenced on or after 29 April 2009 and in the period commencing on 29 April 2009 and ending on 29 December 2009 the claimant attained the age of 20 years,<\/p>\n<p>(ab)the period of unemployment commenced on or before 14 January 2014 and the claimant was a person &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)who, on or before that date, attained the age of 22 years and had not attained the age of 25 years, and<\/p>\n<p>(ii)to whom, on or before 14 January 2014, section 142B applied,<\/p>\n<p>(b)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(c)a claimant was in receipt of disability allowance immediately before he or she makes the claim under this section,<\/p>\n<p>(d)a claimant has attained the age of 18 years and has not attained the age of 25 years and at any time during the period of 12 months before he or she has so attained the age of 18 years &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)he or she was in or was placed in the care of the Executive pursuant to an order of the High Court, or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)he or she was in or was placed in the care of the Executive &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(I)pursuant to an order of the District Court or the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court made under Part III, IV, IVA, (inserted by section 16 of the Children Act 2001) or VI of the Child Care Act 1991,<\/p>\n<p>(II)under a voluntary care arrangement pursuant to section 4 of the Child Care Act 1991, or<\/p>\n<p>(III)under an accommodation arrangement pursuant to section 5 of the Child Care Act 1991, or<\/p>\n<p>(e)a claimant is in receipt, in his or her own right, of &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)rent supplement payable in accordance with section 198(3),<\/p>\n<p>(ii)housing assistance, in accordance with Part 4 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014, or<\/p>\n<p>(iii)social housing support within the meaning of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009.<\/p>\n<p>142B.<\/p>\n<p>Rates of assistance &#8211; ages 22 to 24 years.<\/p>\n<p>Repealed from 1 January 2020<br \/>\n(1)Notwithstanding section 142(1), in the case of a person who &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)has attained the age of 25 years and has not attained the age of 26 years,<\/p>\n<p>(b)is not a person referred to in section 142(1)(a)(ii) (as amended by section 20 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007), and<\/p>\n<p>(c)is not entitled to an increase in respect of a qualified child,<\/p>\n<p>the scheduled rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be the weekly rate set out in column (2) at reference 1(d) in Part 1 of Schedule 4, (inserted by section 4 of the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2009) increased by the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this subsection in respect of more than one person.<\/p>\n<p>(1A)Subject to this Act and notwithstanding subsection (1), in the case of a person to whom subsection (2) or (6) of section 141A or subsection (1) or (4) of section 141B refers, the scheduled rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be reduced and accordingly shall be the weekly rate as set out in column (2) at reference 1(d) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 which shall be reduced in each week by \u20ac33, increased by the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this subsection in respect of more than one person.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)In the case of a person referred to in subsection (1) or subsection (1A), and subject to paragraph (b), jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be payable where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)are less than \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate,<\/p>\n<p>(ii)are equal to \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate reduced by \u20ac1, and<\/p>\n<p>(iii)exceed \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate, reduced by \u20ac1 for each amount (if any) of \u20ac1 by which those weekly means exceed \u20ac1.<\/p>\n<p>(b)Where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary are equal to or exceed the scheduled rate, no jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be payable.<\/p>\n<p>(3)This section shall not apply in the case of a claim for jobseeker&#8217;s allowance where &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)the period of unemployment commenced on or before 30 December 2009 and where, in the period prior to that date, the claimant was not a person to whom section 142A applied,<\/p>\n<p>(aa)the period of unemployment commenced on or before 14 January 2014 and the claimant was a person &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)who, on or before that date, attained the age of 25 years and had not attained the age of 26 years, and<\/p>\n<p>(ii)to whom, on or before 14 January 2014, section 142 applied,<\/p>\n<p>(b)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(c)a claimant was in receipt of disability allowance immediately before he or she makes the claim under this section,<\/p>\n<p>(d)a claimant is participating in the work placement programme, or<\/p>\n<p>(e)a claimant has attained the age of 18 years and has not attained the age of 26 years and at any time during the period of 12 months before he or she has so attained the age of 18 years &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)he or she was in, or was placed in, the care of the Executive pursuant to an order of the High Court, or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)he or she was in, or was placed in, the care of the Executive &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(I)pursuant to an order of the District Court or the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court made under Part III, IV, IVA or VI of the Child Care Act 1991,<\/p>\n<p>(II)under a voluntary care arrangement pursuant to section 4 of the Child Care Act 1991, or<\/p>\n<p>(III)under an accommodation arrangement pursuant to section 5 of the Child Care Act 1991.<\/p>\n<p>(4)In subsection (3), &#8220;work placement programme&#8221; means the programme commonly known by that name and provided by the Minister.<\/p>\n<p>143.<\/p>\n<h4>Regulations.<\/h4>\n<p>Regulations may entitle a person to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in respect of a day of unemployment and the amount of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance so payable for any such day shall be one-sixth of the appropriate weekly rate.<\/p>\n<p>144.<\/p>\n<h4>Total amount payable to a couple.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)In the case of a couple, where each of the couple is entitled to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance or pre-retirement allowance, the total amount payable to them under this Chapter shall not exceed the amount which would be payable if only one of them was entitled to be paid jobseeker&#8217;s allowance or pre-retirement allowance, as the case may be, (including any increases thereof, where appropriate) and each of them shall be entitled to be paid one-half of the amount (including any increases thereof, where appropriate) which would be payable to him or her if only one of them were in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance or pre-retirement allowance as the case may be.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)In this subsection &#8220;relevant benefit or pension&#8221; means illness benefit, jobseeker&#8217;s benefit, jobseeker\u2019s benefit (self-employed), injury benefit, disablement pension, State pension (contributory), State pension (non-contributory), State pension (transition) or invalidity pension.<\/p>\n<p>(b)Where one of a couple is entitled to a relevant benefit or pension and the other is entitled to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance, the total of the amount payable to them by way of the relevant benefit or pension, as the case may be, and jobseeker&#8217;s allowance (in this subsection referred to as &#8220;the relevant amount&#8221;), shall not exceed the total amount of the relevant benefit or pension, as the case may be, (including any increases thereof, where appropriate), or the total amount of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance (including any increases thereof, where appropriate), whichever is the greater (in this subsection referred to as &#8220;the greater amount&#8221;), that would be payable if only one of the couple were in receipt of the relevant benefit or pension or jobseeker&#8217;s allowance, as the case may be, and, if the relevant amount would but for this subsection exceed the greater amount, the amount of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance payable to the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant who is entitled to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance shall be reduced by the amount of the excess.<\/p>\n<p>(3)In this section &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;couple&#8221; means &#8211;<br \/>\n(a)a married couple who are living together,<br \/>\n(b)both civil partners of the same civil partnership who are living together, or<br \/>\n(c)both cohabitants;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;spouse&#8221; means each person of a couple in relation to the other.<\/p>\n<p>(3A)In this section &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)a reference to a civil partner is a reference to each civil partner of a couple in relation to the other, and<\/p>\n<p>(b)a reference to a cohabitant is a reference to each cohabitant in relation to the other.<\/p>\n<p>(4)For the purposes of this section, a reference to &#8220;jobseeker&#8217;s allowance&#8221; shall be read as including a reference to pre-retirement allowance.<\/p>\n<p>145.<\/p>\n<h4>Certain claims.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)A person who, on or after 9 May 1989, claims or has claimed, in respect of a period before 7 June 1989, jobseeker&#8217;s allowance of an amount to which the person would not be entitled if section 144 were applicable shall be entitled to be paid that allowance only in accordance with section 144.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)A person who has not, before 9 May 1989, specifically claimed, in respect of a period before 7 June 1989, any additional amount for jobseeker&#8217;s allowance being an amount to which the person would not be entitled if section 144 were applicable shall not be entitled to be paid the additional amount.<\/p>\n<p>(b)In paragraph (a) &#8220;claimed&#8221; means claimed in writing from the Minister or claimed in proceedings instituted against the Minister in any court.<\/p>\n<p>(3)An amount properly paid to any person before 7 June 1989 by way of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance which as a result of the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act 1989 would be recoverable by the Minister shall not be so recoverable.<\/p>\n<p>146.<\/p>\n<h4>Amount of increases payable in respect of qualified child in certain cases.<\/h4>\n<p>Any increase of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance payable under section 142(1) in respect of a qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary and with the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the claimant or beneficiary shall be payable at the rate of one-half of the appropriate amount in any case where the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the claimant or beneficiary<\/p>\n<p>(a)is not a qualified adult, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)is a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant referred to in section 141(2) (d),<\/p>\n<p>and section 142(1) shall be read and have effect accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>147.<\/p>\n<h4>Disqualifications.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)A person shall be disqualified for receiving jobseeker&#8217;s allowance while he or she is &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)an inmate of an institution maintained wholly or partly out of public moneys or by a local authority,<\/p>\n<p>(b)employed during any week under a scheme provided by the Minister and known as Community Employment, or<\/p>\n<p>(c)employed during any week under a scheme provided by the Minister and known as the Rural Social Scheme.<\/p>\n<p>(2)A person who has lost employment by reason of a stoppage of work which was due to a trade dispute at the factory, workshop, farm or other premises or place at which he or she was employed shall be disqualified for receiving jobseeker&#8217;s allowance so long as the stoppage of work continues, except in the case where the person has, during the stoppage of work, become bona fide employed elsewhere in the occupation which he or she usually follows or has become regularly engaged in some other occupation but this subsection shall not apply to a person who is not participating in or directly interested in the trade dispute which caused the stoppage of work.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Where separate branches of work which are commonly carried on as separate businesses in separate premises or at separate places are in any case carried on in separate departments of the same premises or at the same place, each of those departments, for the purposes of subsection (2), is deemed to be a separate factory, workshop or farm or separate premises or a separate place, as the case may be.<\/p>\n<p>(4)A person shall be disqualified for receiving jobseeker&#8217;s allowance for the period that may be determined by a deciding officer, but in any case not exceeding 9 weeks, where the person &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)has lost his or her employment through his or her own misconduct or has voluntarily left his or her employment without just cause,<\/p>\n<p>(b)has refused an offer of suitable employment,<\/p>\n<p>(d)has failed or neglected to avail himself or herself of any reasonable opportunity of obtaining suitable employment,<\/p>\n<p>and the period of disqualification shall begin on the day on which the loss or leaving of employment, refusal, failure or neglect, as the case may be, occurred.<\/p>\n<p>(4A)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>(5)For the purpose of this section, employment is not deemed to be suitable employment in the case of any person where it is employment in a situation vacant in consequence of a stoppage of work due to a trade dispute.<\/p>\n<p>(6)Jobseeker&#8217;s allowance and either jobseeker\u2019s benefit or jobseeker\u2019s benefit (self-employed) shall not both be payable in respect of the same day or days.<\/p>\n<p>148.<\/p>\n<h4>Disqualifications &#8211; attending a course of study.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)A person shall not be entitled to receive jobseeker\u2019s allowance while attending a course of study, other than in the circumstances and subject to the conditions and for the periods that may be prescribed.<\/p>\n<p>(2)In this section &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;academic year&#8221; means a period in which a course of study begins in one year and finishes in the following year and includes term vacations;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;a course of study&#8221; means a full-time day course of study, instruction or training which may take place over more than one academic year at an institution of education;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;institution of education&#8221; means &#8211;<br \/>\n(a)a school,<br \/>\n(b)[deleted]<br \/>\n(c)[deleted]<br \/>\n(d)a designated institution of higher education within the meaning of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 that falls under paragraph (a) of section 53(1) of that Act,<br \/>\n(e)[deleted]<br \/>\n(f)[deleted]<br \/>\n(g)[deleted]<br \/>\n(h)any institution which is not an institution for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (d) and which is an &#8216;approved institution&#8217; within the meaning of the Student Support Act 2011 and falls under paragraph (d), (e), (f) or (g) of section 7(1) of that Act, or<br \/>\n(i)any other institution that may be prescribed.<\/p>\n<p>(3)For the purposes of this section, a person shall be regarded, subject to regulations made under subsection (1), as attending a course of study &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)for 3 months immediately following the completion or the leaving by that person of second level education or the completion by him or her of the leaving certificate examination of the Department of Education and Science, whichever is the later,<\/p>\n<p>(b)for the duration of an academic year, or<\/p>\n<p>(c)for the period immediately following the completion of one academic year, other than the final academic year of a course of study, up to the beginning of the following academic year.<\/p>\n<p>148A.<\/p>\n<h4>Entitlement to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in certain circumstances.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)This section applies &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)to a person who, during the period for which jobseeker&#8217;s allowance is being claimed under this section &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)is not entitled to one-parent family payment, and<\/p>\n<p>(ii)would be entitled to one-parent family payment but for the fact that the youngest child has attained the age specified in paragraph (b) of the definition of &#8220;relevant age&#8221; in section 172(1),<\/p>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<p>(b)where the youngest child, referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), has not attained the age of 14 years.<\/p>\n<p>(2)Subject to this section, a person to whom this section applies shall be entitled to jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in respect of any week of unemployment, as construed in accordance with subsection (4)(b), where that person makes a declaration in such manner as may be prescribed that he or she &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)is the parent, step-parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian of at least one child who has not attained the age of 14 years and who normally resides, in accordance with Article 128 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 142 of 2007), with that person, and<\/p>\n<p>(b)is not a cohabitant.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), for the purposes of that subsection a person may make a declaration by means of an electronic communication, in such manner as may be prescribed.<\/p>\n<p>(4)In the case of a person to whom this section applies, Chapter 2 of Part 3 shall be read as if &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)sections 141(1)(b), 141(1A), 141(2)(a), 141(3), 141(3A), 141(3B), 141(4)(b), 141(4)(c), 141(8), 147(4) and 148 do not apply,<\/p>\n<p>(b)each period of 7 consecutive days were treated as a week of unemployment and any 2 such weeks not separated by more than 52 weeks shall be treated as one continuous period of unemployment and references in Chapter 2 of Part 3 to a week of unemployment, to being continuously unemployed or to continuous unemployment shall be read accordingly, and<\/p>\n<p>(c)the reference to a day or days of unemployment in sections 141(3C), 141(4), 141(7) and 143 were to any day or days in a week of unemployment as construed in accordance with paragraph (b).<\/p>\n<p>(5)[deleted]<\/p>\n<p>Chapter 3<\/p>\n<h4>Pre-Retirement Allowance (ss. 149-151)<\/h4>\n<p>149.<\/p>\n<h4>Entitlement to allowance.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Subject to this Act, an allowance (in this Chapter referred to as &#8220;pre-retirement allowance&#8221;) shall be payable in respect of any period of retirement to a person &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)who has attained the age specified by regulations but has not attained pensionable age,<\/p>\n<p>(b)whose weekly means, subject to subsection (4), do not exceed the amount of pre-retirement allowance (including any increases of that allowance) that would be payable to the person under this Chapter if that person had no means, and<\/p>\n<p>(c)<\/p>\n<p>(i)who has been in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s benefit or jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in respect of not less than 390 days of unemployment in any continuous period of unemployment in the immediately preceding period as read in accordance with section 141 (3),<\/p>\n<p>(ii)being a separated spouse, has not engaged in remunerative employment or self-employment at any time in the preceding period that may be prescribed, or<\/p>\n<p>(iia)being a civil partner who is not living with the other civil partner of the civil partnership and who has not engaged in remunerative employment or self-employment at any time in the preceding period that may be prescribed, or<\/p>\n<p>(iii)immediately before the week in respect of which pre-retirement allowance is claimed, was in receipt of &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(I)one-parent family payment, but has ceased to be entitled to that payment by virtue of no longer being regarded as a qualified parent within the meaning of section 172 (1), or<\/p>\n<p>(II)carer&#8217;s allowance, but has ceased to be entitled to that allowance, by virtue of no longer being regarded as a carer within the meaning of section 179 (1).<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)For the purposes of subsection (1) (c) (ii) and subject to section 3 (10) a person who is separated from his or her spouse, shall continue to be regarded as a separated spouse where the marriage has been dissolved, being a dissolution that is recognised as valid in the State.<\/p>\n<p>(aa)For the purposes of subsection (1) (c) (iia) and subject to section 3(10), a civil partner who is not living with his or her civil partner shall continue to be regarded as such where the civil partnership has been dissolved, being a dissolution that is recognised as valid in the State.<\/p>\n<p>(b)Pre-retirement allowance shall, subject to this Chapter, continue to be payable to a person to whom subsection (1) (c) (ii) or subsection (1) (c) (iia) applies, unless that person marries, remarries, enters into a civil partnership or a new civil partnership or is a cohabitant.<\/p>\n<p>(3)<\/p>\n<p>(a)In this Chapter &#8220;weekly means&#8221; shall, subject to paragraph (b) and Rule 1(1) or (7) as the case may be of Part 2 of Schedule 3, be the yearly means divided by 52 and means shall be calculated in accordance with the Rules contained in Part 2 of Schedule 3.<\/p>\n<p>(b)The amount calculated in accordance with paragraph (a) shall be rounded up to the nearest \u20ac1 where it is a multiple of 50 cent but not also a multiple of \u20ac1 and shall be rounded to the nearest \u20ac1 where it is not a multiple of 50 cent or \u20ac1.<\/p>\n<p>(3A)Where the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of a claimant for pre-retirement allowance is a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant referred to in Part 6, and is in receipt of a payment under Part 6, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.<\/p>\n<p>(4)Subject to subsection (4A), where the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of a claimant for pre-retirement allowance is a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant referred to in any of subparagraphs (iii) to (vii) of section 2(2) (a), the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.<\/p>\n<p>(4A)Notwithstanding subsection (4), where, in the 4 weeks immediately before the commencement of section 9 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 a person was entitled to or in receipt of pre-retirement allowance in respect of any day of retirement and the spouse of the claimant for pre-retirement allowance is not the claimant&#8217;s qualified adult, or is a spouse in respect of whom an increase is payable by virtue of regulations made under section 297, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means or the means calculated in accordance with subsection (4), whichever is the more favourable.<\/p>\n<p>(4B)Where the means of a claimant are calculated at any time in accordance with subsection (4A) and are subsequently calculated in accordance with subsection (4), subsection (4A) shall no longer apply to the claimant.<\/p>\n<p>(4C)Where for any period of not less than 4 consecutive weeks after the commencement of section 9 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007, a claimant whose means were calculated in accordance with subsection (4A) ceases to be entitled to or in receipt of pre-retirement allowance, subsection (4) shall apply to any subsequent claims.<\/p>\n<p>(5)For the purposes of subsections (6) and (8), any 2 periods of retirement not separated by more than 52 weeks shall be treated as one continuous period of retirement.<\/p>\n<p>(6)Subsection (1) (c) shall not apply in the case of a claim to pre-retirement allowance made by a person in respect of a period of retirement which is a continuous period of retirement as read in accordance with subsection (5).<\/p>\n<p>(7)Notwithstanding the provisions of this Chapter and subject to subsections (8) and (9), pre-retirement allowance shall not be payable to a person in respect of any period of retirement which begins on or after such date as may be prescribed.<\/p>\n<p>(8)Subsection (7) shall not apply where a continuous period of retirement, as read in accordance with subsection (5), began before the date prescribed for the purposes of subsection (7).<\/p>\n<p>(9)Subsection (7) shall not apply to a person who &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)was in receipt of carer&#8217;s allowance immediately before the date prescribed for the purposes of subsection (7), and<\/p>\n<p>(b)was in receipt of pre-retirement allowance immediately before receiving carer&#8217;s allowance.<\/p>\n<p>150.<\/p>\n<h4>Rate of allowance (including increases for qualified adult and qualified children).<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Subject to this section and section 144, the rate of pre-retirement allowance (in this Chapter referred to as &#8220;the scheduled rate&#8221;) shall be the weekly rate set out in column (2) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 increased by &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)the amount set out in column (3) of that Part for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled to an increase under this paragraph in respect of more than one person, and<\/p>\n<p>(b)the appropriate amount set out in column (4) of that Part in respect of each qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>(a)Subject to paragraph (b), pre-retirement allowance shall be payable where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)are less than \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate,<\/p>\n<p>(ii)are equal to \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate reduced by \u20ac1, and<\/p>\n<p>(iii)exceed \u20ac1, at the scheduled rate reduced by \u20ac1 for each amount (if any) of \u20ac1 by which those weekly means exceed \u20ac1.<\/p>\n<p>(b)Where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary are equal to or exceed the scheduled rate, no pre-retirement allowance shall be payable.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Any increase of pre-retirement allowance payable under subsection (1) (b) in respect of a qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary and with the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the claimant or beneficiary shall be payable at the rate of one-half of the appropriate amount in any case where the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the claimant or beneficiary<\/p>\n<p>(a)is not a qualified adult, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)is a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant referred to in section 149(4),<\/p>\n<p>and subsection (1) (b) shall be read and have effect accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>151.<\/p>\n<h4>Regulations.<\/h4>\n<p>The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to this Chapter and those regulations may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)specify the age for the purposes of section 149 (1) (a),<\/p>\n<p>(b)specify the periods which shall be regarded as periods of retirement for the purposes of this Chapter,<\/p>\n<p>(c)specify the circumstances in which a person is to be regarded as a separated spouse for the purposes of section 149 (1) (c) (ii), and<\/p>\n<p>(ca)specify the circumstances in which a person is to be regarded as a civil partner where he or she is not living with the other civil partner of the civil partnership for the purposes of section 149(1) (c) (iia), and<\/p>\n<p>(d)vary the weekly rate of pre-retirement allowance under section 150, but any such variation shall not reduce the weekly rates applicable immediately before the commencement of the regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Part 7<\/p>\n<h4>Continued Payment for Qualified Children (ss. 234-238)<\/h4>\n<p>234.<\/p>\n<h4>Entitlement to payment.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Subject to this Act, a continued payment for qualified children (in this Part referred to as a &#8220;continued payment&#8221;) shall be payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas to a person &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)<\/p>\n<p>(i)other than a person who is engaged in short-time employment, who &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(I)has been in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s benefit, jobseeker&#8217;s allowance, or jobseeker&#8217;s benefit and jobseeker&#8217;s allowance in respect of not less than 312 days of unemployment in &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(A)a period of interruption of employment, within the meaning of section 62 (5) (c), where the person is in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s benefit, or<\/p>\n<p>(B)a continuous period of unemployment, within the meaning of section 141 (3), where the person is in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance,<\/p>\n<p>in the immediately preceding period, and<\/p>\n<p>(II)is in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s benefit or jobseeker&#8217;s allowance which includes an increase in respect of at least one qualified child who normally resides with the person and is not a person to whom section 66 (3), 146 or 297 (as the case may require) applies,<\/p>\n<p>or<\/p>\n<p>(ii)who is engaged in employment under a scheme provided by the Minister and known as Community Employment and who, if he or she were in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s benefit or jobseeker&#8217;s allowance would be entitled to an increase in respect of at least one qualified child who normally resides with the person and would not be a person to whom section 66 (3), 146 or 297 (as the case may require) applies,<\/p>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<p>(b)who, in the case of a person to whom paragraph (a) (i) or (ii) applies, ceases, by virtue of having become engaged in employment which is expected to continue for a minimum of 4 weeks, to be entitled to jobseeker&#8217;s benefit or jobseeker&#8217;s allowance or ceases to be engaged in Community Employment.<\/p>\n<p>(1A)Notwithstanding the provisions of this Part, a continued payment shall not be payable to a person for any period on or after the enactment of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015.<\/p>\n<p>(2)In this Part, &#8220;employment&#8221; means insurable employment or insurable self-employment, other than &#8211;<br \/>\n(a)employment under a scheme provided by the Minister and known as Community Employment,<br \/>\n(b)employment under any scheme which is provided by the Minister, other than a scheme known as the Jobs Initiatives Scheme, or<br \/>\n(c)employment of a seasonal nature.<\/p>\n<p>235.<\/p>\n<h4>Weekly rate of payment.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Subject to subsection (2), the weekly rate of continued payment shall be the amount payable to the person by way of an increase in jobseeker&#8217;s benefit or jobseeker&#8217;s allowance (as the case may require) in respect of each qualified child normally residing with the person immediately before that person takes up employment.<\/p>\n<p>(2)In the case of a person who immediately before he or she takes up employment was in receipt of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance, where the rate calculated under this section exceeds the rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance which was payable to the person, the continued payment shall be payable at that rate of jobseeker&#8217;s allowance.<\/p>\n<p>236.<\/p>\n<h4>Period of payment.<\/h4>\n<p>A continued payment shall be payable for the period during which the person is engaged in employment, up to a maximum of 13 weeks, beginning on the date on which it is receivable in accordance with regulations and the weekly rate of continued payment shall not be affected by any change of circumstances during that period.<\/p>\n<p>237.<\/p>\n<h4>Disqualification.<\/h4>\n<p>(1)Except as provided for in subsection (2), receipt of a continued payment by a person shall be a disqualification for the receipt by that person of working family payment.<\/p>\n<p>(2)Where a person is in receipt of or entitled to a continued payment and would but for subsection (1) be qualified for the receipt of working family payment, the person may be paid the working family payment for any period during which the rate of supplement payable would be greater than the rate of continued payment and the Minister may reduce any such supplement which is or may become payable to that person by the amount of the continued payment which shall be treated as having been paid on account of the working family payment.<\/p>\n<p>238.<\/p>\n<h5>Regulations.<\/h5>\n<p>(1)The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to this Part.<\/p>\n<p>(2)Regulations under this section may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), require employers to give such information as the Minister may require for the purpose of determining a claim for a continued payment.<\/p>\n<p>Part 12A Employment schemes and other schemes and programmes (s. 359A-359B)<br \/>\n359A. Functions of Minister in relation to employment schemes and related schemes and programmes.<br \/>\n(1)The Minister may &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)provide, or arrange for and co-ordinate the provision of &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(i)employment schemes,<\/p>\n<p>(ii)assistance in obtaining employment,<\/p>\n<p>(iii)assistance in obtaining work experience,<\/p>\n<p>(iv)job placement schemes that facilitate persons seeking employment in obtaining employment, including the provision of &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(I)guidance, advice and information in respect of choice of career and employment, and<\/p>\n<p>(II)services, whereby persons seeking employment are introduced to persons offering employment, and<\/p>\n<p>(b)assist, whether financially or otherwise, in the provision of schemes and programmes referred to in paragraph (a).<\/p>\n<p>(1A)For the purposes of subsection (1), a reference to employment includes a reference to self-employment.<\/p>\n<p>(2)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Minister may provide for any employment scheme or other scheme or programme provided, immediately before the coming into operation of section 30 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010, by An Foras \u00c1iseanna Saothair, pursuant to paragraphs (b) to (g) of section 4(1) of the Labour Services Act 1987 including the following schemes and programme provided by An Foras \u00c1iseanna Saothair immediately before the coming into operation of section 30 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010:<\/p>\n<p>(a)the scheme known as Community Employment;<\/p>\n<p>(b)the programme commonly known as the work placement programme referred to in section 142B(4);<\/p>\n<p>(c)the scheme known as the Jobs Initiatives Scheme referred to in section 234.<\/p>\n<p>(3)The Minister may amend or terminate, at any time, a scheme or programme referred to in subsection (2).<\/p>\n<p>(4)The Minister shall not be, or be deemed to be, an employer within the meaning of the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 to 2014 by reason only of &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)the provision of funding by him or her to a person pursuant to a scheme or programme provided under this section, or<\/p>\n<p>(b)a payment made by him or her in accordance with subsection (5).<\/p>\n<p>(5)The Minister may, subject to the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, pay from the Exchequer sums agreed in relation to the scheme established and administered by the Minister and known as the Ex-Gratia Scheme for Community Employment Scheme Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors.<\/p>\n<p>359B. Discrimination on grounds of age in relation to employment schemes and other schemes and programmes<br \/>\n(1)The Minister, in respect of a class of persons prescribed by the Minister under subsection (2), may discriminate on the grounds of age in &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)providing, or arranging for and co-ordinating the provision of, a scheme, programme or assistance under section 359A(1)(a),<\/p>\n<p>(b)assisting, whether financially or otherwise, in the provision of a scheme, programme or assistance referred to in section 359A(1)(a), or<\/p>\n<p>(c)providing for any scheme or programme under section 359A(2).<\/p>\n<p>(2)The Minister may prescribe a class or classes of persons for the purposes of subsection (1) where, on the basis of the information relating to the unemployment rate, the participation rate, or the average duration of unemployment compiled by the Central Statistics Office under section 10 of the Statistics Act 1993 and contained in the most recently published survey for the time being known as the Quarterly National Household Survey &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)the unemployment rate for the class of persons is higher than the national unemployment rate,<\/p>\n<p>(b)the participation rate for the class of persons is lower than the national participation rate, or<\/p>\n<p>(c)the average duration of unemployment of unemployed persons in the class of persons is higher than the average national duration of unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>(3)Before 1 August 2016 and every 2 years after 2016, the Minister shall &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>(a)carry out a review of the operation, effectiveness and impact of this section,<\/p>\n<p>(b)consider whether the prescribing of a class or classes of persons under subsection (2) continues to be necessary, having regard to the matters referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of that subsection,<\/p>\n<p>(c)make such findings as he or she thinks appropriate consequent on the review and consideration, and<\/p>\n<p>(d)cause a written report of his or her findings resulting from the review and consideration to be prepared and laid before each House of the Oireachtas.<\/p>\n<p>(4)Section 11 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 shall not apply in relation to the performance by the Minister of his or her functions under this section.<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-19859\" data-postid=\"19859\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-19859 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back to Work Allowance The back to work enterprise allowance is a weekly payment to unemployed persons who have commenced a business.\u00a0 They retain full social welfare payment for the first year and 75 percent in the second year.\u00a0 It is not taxed or subject to PRSI. The business venture must be viable and sustainable.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[287],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19859"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35099,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19859\/revisions\/35099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}