DARRAGH O'BRIEN TD
  • HOME
  • About Darragh
  • News
  • Parliamentary Questions
    • Housing, Planning & Local Government PQ's
    • School PQs
    • Foreign Affairs PQS
    • Oral Questions
  • Newsletters
  • Videos
  • PHOTOS
  • FIANNA FAIL
  • CONTACT
  • DATA Protection Statement

Parliamentary Questions

Housing support for persons aged 18 to 24

4/12/2019

 
QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if persons aged 18 to 24 years of age that are living independently and receiving housing supports in the form of emergency accommodation will be eligible for the higher rate of jobseeker’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if persons aged 18 to 24 years of age that are eligible for housing supports but that are unable to access a tenancy will be eligible for the higher rate of jobseeker’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY
 
The reduced age related rates of payment for younger jobseeker’s allowance and supplementary welfare allowance recipients were introduced on a phased basis to protect them from welfare dependency by providing them with a strong financial incentive to participate in education or training to improve their chances of obtaining sustainable full time employment.
Age related reduced rates do not apply to jobseekers with a dependent child, or those who have transferred to jobseeker’s allowance from disability allowance or who were in State care during the 12 months before age 18.
As part of Budget 2020 I announced that jobseekers aged 18-24 living independently and receiving state support towards their housing costs will receive the full rate of jobseekers allowance or supplementary welfare allowance.
My Department’s report on the impact of age related reduced rates of jobseekers allowance on young jobseekers aged 18 to 25 years of age found that that there was a small cohort of young people who face significant financial barriers who are living independently and in receipt of State support towards their housing costs. The residual income of those on age related reduced rates after paying the minimum contribution payments on rent supplement, housing assistance payment (HAP) and other local authority housing supports is significantly lower than those on the maximum rate of jobseeker’s allowance or supplementary welfare allowance which can lead to financial hardship.
This measure, which comes into effect in January 2020, will provide that young people in these circumstances can receive the maximum rate of payment and will help young people to continue living independently and reduce the threat of financial hardship.  For those aged 18-24 this will provide a weekly increase of up to €90.30 with their weekly payment increasing from €112.70 to €203 for jobseekers and to €201 for those in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance. The estimated expenditure in a full year is €1 million and the estimated number of young people who will benefit from this measure is 300.
Young people who qualify for this measure will continue to be encouraged to engage with the employment support services and avail of pro-employment supports and schemes.  A range of activation measures for the under 25’s have been developed and improved over recent years, most notably the EU-wide Youth Guarantee Programme and the Youth Employment Support Scheme which I introduced as part of Budget 2018.
My Department works with Tusla and non-Government organisations to support all vulnerable people including young people who are leaving care, at risk of, or experiencing homelessness, or in insecure situations.
Protocols are in place in all Intreo Centres to ensure that payments and activation supports for young people in insecure situations such as homelessness are not interrupted and they are advised to register with the Local Authority to engage with Housing Assistance Payment and local homeless services.
Supports under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme are also available to young people to help with essential expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.  Young people who are in vulnerable situations, including homelessness are assessed to see what supports are most suitable for their individual circumstances.  As the needs of this group are complex they require assessment on an individual basis and I believe this is the most appropriate way of helping them to overcome the significant challenges they face.
 
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    PQs

    All Parlamientary Questions I make and their answers can be viewed in this section

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Darragh O'Brien TD


Address

Darragh O'Brien TD
Leinster House
Kildare Street
Dublin 2

Telephone

T:  01-6183802

Email

At present, and as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am not holding my regular meetings across our towns and villages in North County Dublin. However, both I and my office are happy to speak to you and assist you with any issues you may have.

For all housing, planning or heritage related queries please don’t hesitate to contact:
Email: minister@housing.gov.ie
Phone: 01-8882000
Postal address: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Custom House, Dublin 1, D01 W6X0
 
For all constituency related queries please don’t hesitate to contact:
Email: Darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie
Phone: 01-6183802
Postal address: Dáil Éireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
 



  • HOME
  • About Darragh
  • News
  • Parliamentary Questions
    • Housing, Planning & Local Government PQ's
    • School PQs
    • Foreign Affairs PQS
    • Oral Questions
  • Newsletters
  • Videos
  • PHOTOS
  • FIANNA FAIL
  • CONTACT
  • DATA Protection Statement