Trapped in Unemployment for the sake of 97c

12 Jul 2004

The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed is particularly concerned at the adverse affect the €317 threshold for the retention of secondary benefits is having on unemployed people. This threshold, set by Dept of Social and Family Affairs, has remained unchanged since 1994 and is causing unnecessary unemployment traps for people wishing to move from welfare to work.

‘Anyone taking up a position on a Jobs Initiative scheme is in excess of this threshold by as little as 0.97c and as a result will lose their rent supplement, BSCFA etc. The same situation applies to lone parents on the Community Employment programme,’ said June Tinsley, Policy Officer INOU. ‘Both JI and CE have proved to be valuable in assisting participants to (re)enter the labour market. However, participants who benefit from these schemes are now less likely to participate, as it could result in their income becoming unsustainable.’

With such emphasis being placed on employment as being the route out of poverty, why has this threshold remained unchanged resulting in people being unable to take up employment programmes and therefore remaining on welfare and in poverty? It is clearly an example of there being a financial disincentive to take up employment despite the Government commitment in NAPSincl to remove such disincentives. The INOU have long campaigned for this threshold to keep pace with inflation to ensure such situations would not arise. Again we ask the Dept of Social and Family Affairs to increase this threshold. In the short term, the INOU calls on the Department to ensure that participants on JI /CE do not lose secondary benefits as a result of increases they have received from FAS. Therefore, all increases should be exempt from assessment for the purposes of the €317.43 limit.