Number of unemployed penalised for not seeking work soars

The number of people penalised for not engaging with employment schemes has risen dramatically since sanctions were introduced six years ago, the Dáil has heard.

Figures from Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar show that in 2014 a total of 5,325 people were sanctioned, but that this increased to 10,867 last year.

However, Fianna Fáil spokesman Willie O'Dea said just 359 people were sanctioned when the penalties were first introduced in 2011. He said this was now an increase of 2,300 per cent in five years. He acknowledged that there had to be sanction in some cases, but "it appears that people are being forced into low-paid, insecure jobs that do not suit them. They are jobs in which they end up worse off as a result of having to travel to work."

He said he had spoken to people who were forced to do training and education courses they had no interest in and which they never intended to use.

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“If they don’t do them, they will be penalised,” he said.

Mr O’Dea said that “an activation service is not a sanctions regime. While there must be sanctions, there surely must be some controls to ensure that people are not forced for the benefit of employers into low-paid jobs or courses that are not suitable for them.”

Reduced payments

However, the Minister said 300,000 people came on and off the live register in a given year and about 10,000 might be subjected to reduced payments.

“It’s not as if it is 10 per cent or even 5 per cent. It is considerably less than that,” he said. At any given time about 1,200 people are on a reduced rate of payment, about 0.4 per cent of jobseekers.

Sanctions are imposed when a social welfare recipient refuses to engage with the State’s employment services, with payments are cut after a number of verbal and written warnings.

Mr Varadkar said reduced social welfare payments “are a means of encouraging jobseekers to engage with activation measures” and use the supports offered by his department to help them get a job.

He said there had been an increase in the number of people penalised because it was “always going to start off at a lower point than where it ended”.

The Minister also said that when it was introduced, there was little one-to-one engagement. “Now it is far more common, so there has been an increase in the number of those sanctioned. I do not anticipate the number escalating much further. It will probably stabilise this year in the 10,000-12,000 range,” he said.

Mr Varadkar said he planned to examine a breakdown of the reasons for sanctions and of the people who had been penalised.