Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
752. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated annual cost of increasing the weekly earnings disregard for recipients of the one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transitional payment to €210; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29716/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe earnings disregard for both the One Parent Family Payment and the Jobseeker's Transitional Payment is €165 per week. In addition, 50% of earnings above this figure is also disregarded in the assessment of means. The disregards have been designed to avoid cliff edges, as customers only see their payment reduce as they earn more from employment.
The full year cost of increasing the disregards across the two schemes is difficult to estimate with accuracy given labour market dynamics, wage fluctuations, and flows into, between, and out of schemes as the age of the youngest child reaches 7 and 14. It is also challenging to forecast the number of new claimants who would avail of the payment as a result of the increased disregard.
Based on an analysis of 2024 income data for One Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker's Transitional Payment recipients, the estimated cost of increasing the disregards from €165 to €210 is approximately €15m for the One-Parent Family Payment and €8.5 m for the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment respectively.
It is also important to note that increases to disregards are introduced in an overall budgetary context, and other measures introduced as part of the budget may also impact on flows into and out of schemes.
