500% surge in penalties for job seekers

There has been a more than 500% increase in only five years in the number of people who have been hit with penalties for not engaging with the Government’s job activation services.

The increase in penalising those on social welfare by reducing their rate of jobseekers’ payments has prompted Fianna Fáil to describe the treatment as akin to Oliver Twist-like conditions in English workhouses.

Department of Social Protection figures show 10,867 people were sanctioned for failing to engage with the job activation schemes last year. That compares to 1,519 last year. The figure has increased every year since and so far 34,030 have been penalised. This year, 5,822 jobseekers have been affected.