Government focused on keeping ‘decent gap’ between pay and jobseeker’s support

The Government’s motive in widening the availability of GP care to over half the population was to ensure there was a “decent gap” between the income and benefits of working people, and those who received benefits, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

He also said that some of the thinking behind broadening the qualification for free GP care was to reward those who were in work.

“Half the country now qualifies for free GP care. One of the fears that people would have is that if they took up work they might lose their free GP care or they might lose their entitlement to housing or they might lose their SUSI grant or they might lose their access to subsidised child care,” Mr Varadkar said during an interview with political reporters to mark the end of the autumn term in the Oireachtas.

“So what we have done in order to make work pay, to encourage work, is to increase wages, but also eliminate some of those traps where people who work longer hours, or take up work or get a pay increase, actually end up losing benefits that they have.

“We have made a lot of progress I think in that regard. One of the other changes to jobseekers will be the introduction of what is call pay related benefits.”

Mr Varadkar said he wanted there to be a “decent gap” between jobseekers’ payments and what those in work receive, in order to incentives work.

“The gap has actually widened in recent years. Even though we have increased the amount that a jobseeker gets paid every week, we have increased the national wage by more and that means the incentive to work is greater under what they call the replacement rate.

“That’s done to make sure that if people ever are in a position where they are choosing between work and welfare, the choice of work is more attractive,” he said.

Mr Varadkar also said that asylum-seekers were not entitled to getting the Christmas bonus that is available to welfare recipients. Mr Varadkar said that the bonus is paid only to people who are long-term social welfare payments.

Many recipients are paid a double welfare payment at the start of December. A once-off double week for all weekly qualifying social welfare payments will also be paid in the week beginning January 29th, 2024. Payments that qualify for the Christmas bonus will qualify for the once-off double week.

He said the bonus did not go to everyone. “It doesn’t even go to all jobseekers and it doesn’t go to everyone on illness benefit so it’s only recipients of social protection,” he said.

Most people who have sought international protection in Ireland are living in direct provision accommodation, or emergency accommodation, where their food and lodgings are paid. In addition they qualify for a weekly social welfare payment, called a daily expense allowance. It is worth €38.80 for each adult and €29.80 for each child.