Unemployed face further cuts if they refuse jobs or training

Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar plans to crack down on people on social welfare who do not make an effort to get a job or return to education by further cutting their payments.

His stance comes as the minority government faces a backlash for “unfair” and “mean” increases to young unemployed people.

Mr Varadkar, who has already taken a hard-line approach in relation to the long-term unemployed, now wants to increase the penalties for people who do not return to work or up-skill.

Currently those on the €188 rate of job seekers can have their payment cut to €144 a week if they do not enter into an employment support scheme, work experience, or training.

But yesterday, Mr Varadkar said he would be considering a larger penalty.

“I am certainly going to consider deepening those penalty rates for people who do not take up employment, education training, CE schemes all the things that are on offer to them.

“It’s something I am going to consider in the context of the Social Welfare Bill.

Leo Varadkar

“We are incentivising employers to take people off the live register, and if they don’t take those jobs, we will be cutting their benefits,” Mr Varadkar told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny programme.

Increases in social welfare payments were announced as part of Budget 2017, however, younger people will receive less.

While adults over the age of 26 on jobseekers’ allowance will see their weekly benefit increase by €5 increase, those between 18-24 will only get €2.70 extra each week bringing their benefit up to €102.70.

Those aged 25 will get €3.80 more in their personal rate, meaning they will receive €127.80.

Fianna Fáil social protection spokesman Willie O’Dea yesterday described the increases as a “mean gesture”, and said he was not aware of the disparity ahead of budget day. “I think that was a rather mean gesture and I think the amount of money involved is tiny really. I don’t understand the logic, quite frankly.”

Describing the measures as “pretty mean”, Mr O’Dea told RTE’s News at One programme that Fianna Fáil “will be working to have that reversed in the context of the Social Welfare Bill.”

However, speaking to the Irish Examiner last night, Mr O’Dea conceded that Mr Varadkar probably “has his mind made up” on the payments.

“I am going to raise it with the minister, but I am not going to pull down the House on it,” he said.