Jobseekers' benefit halved for new claimants under 20

BENEFIT:UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS for under-20s will be halved for new claimants as part of a series of spending cuts, but weekly welfare rates will remain unchanged.

Announcing details of the welfare budget yesterday, Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin said the cut in unemployment benefit would provide an incentive for young jobseekers to avail of education and training opportunities.

Other hits for welfare recipients and people on low incomes include changes to the rent supplement, which will require tenants to pay a minimum contribution of €24 a week, up from €18.

The Government will not pay the traditional Christmas bonus, which was projected to cost €150 million this year. The alternative, Ms Hanafin said, was cutting basic welfare rates for all recipients, which would have affected even more people.

She confirmed plans are under way to either tax or means test child benefit, resulting in savings of up to €500 million next year.

Overall, the budget for social welfare will increase from the €19.5 billion provided for in last October’s budget to €21.3 billion this year, driven mainly by increases in the live register.

Spending cuts and cost-saving will total around €300 million, including €82 million in prevention of fraud through increased investigations into unemployment and child benefit payments.

Reacting to the budget, the Society of St Vincent de Paul said it believed the budget had no positive message for low earners, or those under threat of losing their jobs.

John Monaghan, the organisation’s vice-president, said the extension of the income levy to the low-paid, the loss of the early childcare supplement and changes to the rent supplement would push the working poor even deeper into poverty.

On the issue of cuts to the jobseekers’ allowance for the under-20s, Labour’s social affairs spokeswoman Roísín Shortall TD said there was little or no detail available on training and upskilling options that will be available to recipients.

“Any scheme in this regard should be properly structured and should lead to real qualifications,” she said.

Fine Gael’s Olwyn Enright said the measures will punish average families with at least €2,500 in extra taxes, excluding reductions in benefits such as the childcare supplement and mortgage relief.