BACK TO WORK FAMILY DIVIDEND WILL BE SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING UNEMPLOYED PARENTS BACK TO WORK

Posted on March 4, 2015 3:16 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Speaking on the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015

It has been said that the best route out of poverty is through work. I am confident that the Back to Work Family Dividend will prove to be a successful initiative for out of work parents with dependent children. It will help people to build a better financial future for themselves and their families. That is what this Bill is intended to do - to provide the legislative basis for the introduction of the Back to Work Family Dividend, as announced in Budget 2015, to help jobseekers with families and lone parents to return to work.
The Bill also provides for a number of other changes to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 in conjunction with this, including the extension of the Jobseeker's Allowance transitional arrangements to all lone parents where the youngest child is between the ages of 7 and 13 years.

Under these transitional arrangements, certain former recipients of the One-Parent Family Payment are exempt from a number of the conditions applying to the Jobseeker's Allowance scheme, such as the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking full-time employment, up until their youngest child reaches 14 years of age.

Budget 2015 announced the introduction of the Back to Work Family Dividend scheme to provide a financial incentive to jobseekers and recipients of One-Parent Family Payment who have children and who cease claiming their social welfare payment on account of that person or, where it is applicable, that person's spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, taking up employment, increasing hours of employment or taking up self-employment. This Dividend will act as a further incentive to work, in addition to the existing Family Income Supplement. The Dividend will operate during the period of economic recovery and will be available to jobseekers and lone parents who take up or increase the level of their employment at any stage, up until the end of March 2018.

A person who meets the eligibility criteria for the scheme will be entitled to a weekly payment for up to 2 years following on from the ending of the claim for the jobseekers payment or One-Parent Family Payment. The rate of the Back to Work Family Dividend will be based, in the first year, on the rate of Qualified Child Increase which was being paid to that person immediately before they cease to claim the jobseekers payment or One-Parent Family Payment, subject to a maximum overall weekly payment of € 119.20 and will be half of that rate in the second year, subject to a maximum overall weekly payment of €59.60.

While the Back to Work Family Dividend scheme will commence on the enactment of this Bill, applications are being accepted from people who have taken up employment or self-employment or increased their hours of employment since 5 January 2015. However, the first payments will not be made until the legislative provisions underpinning the scheme come into operation on the enactment of this Bill. Payments will be backdated where the date of application is between January and the date of enactment of this Bill.

The Government is making very significant progress in getting people back to work, but momentum for this needs to be increased. Budget 2015 saw the introduction of this new and innovative scheme to help jobseekers with families and lone parents to take up employment. Essentially, it will provide a financial incentive to jobseekers and recipients of One-Parent Family Payment with child dependents to take up employment, increase the hours they work or become self-employed. This Dividend will be paid in addition to the existing Family Income Supplement.

I commend the legislation to the House.