The INOU was pleased to contribute to the Department of Social Protection’s Statement of Strategy 2025-2028. Minister Dara Calleary is now the Minister for the Department, and we look forward to engaging with him and the Department in developing policies to support people who are unemployed and others marginalised in the labour market.
Our submission focussed on main areas of the social welfare system that many people who are unemployed interact with; these include the social welfare system, and the Public Employment Service.
The full submission is available here.
A short description of the submission is below.
Clients at the Centre
We continue to advocate for social welfare systems to be responsive to the needs of clients, that provides support and proactive information and guidance.
The INOU would like to see a reversal of the high increase of the Jobseekers Payment penalty rate, as it is not evidence-based and currently equates to 37% of a recipient’s payment on a maximum personal rate, which is simply too high.
In this section we also highlighted the need to have lifelong guidance practiced throughout the Public Employment Service to ensure people can equip themselves with career management skills; we also highlighted the potential risks associated with the use of generative AI in social protection.
Integrated Income Support
The current social welfare system remains disjointed, challenging to navigate and has many “cliff edges” where people can see real drops in their income. We asked for the full implementation of the Joint Oireachtas Committee report on Means testing, which would bring about some much-needed reforms. We asked to benchmark core social welfare payments to the costs of living, and to ensure that people are lifted out of poverty.
We also highlighted the need for the Department to progress their commitments on increasing Community Employment and Tús top up payments and introducing more person-centred changes to the programme.
Activation Focused Service
The INOU’s submission highlights the drawbacks of the activation-focussed Public Employment Service (PES) - a long-term approach should be used to ensure people avail of education, training and guidance so they have the skills they need to adapt to the changing world of work.
Our final recommendation in our submission asks to ensure that anyone of working age can access the PES, regardless of whether or not they are on a social welfare payment.