Budget Must Prioritise Vulnerable Groups Over Jobseekers – Deputy O’Shea

The chairperson of the Oireachtas Social Protection Committee has called for the Budget to prioritise vulnerable groups such as pensioners, carers and people with disabilities – rather than rewarding people who refuse to work. 

Fine Gael TD John Paul O’Shea has called on the Government to abandon the Budget approach taken during previous years, whereby everyone in receipt of a weekly payment received the same level of increase.

Deputy O’Shea said “Figures obtained from the Department of Social Protection show that almost 48,000 people have been on the dole for 12 months or more. 

“It really does beg the question; ‘At a time when businesses are screaming out for workers, why are so many people out of work for months on end?’

“I have called on the Minister and the Department to significantly ramp up their activation efforts to get this cohort into the workforce.

“I also believe we need to take a fresh look to the Social Protection Budget this year and ensure we prioritise the groups that need our support the most. 

“I’m talking about those people who worked all their lives, our pensioners, and who deserve to be supported with an increase this year. 

“I also believe we need to support our carers who do so much wonderful work in communities across the country.

“And we need to support people who have a disability and are therefore unable to work.

“I don’t believe people on jobseeker’s payments should be prioritised in the same way as these vulnerable groups. 

“The focus should instead be on unlocking the plethora of supports in place to help these people with further education, training and reskilling. 

“We also have programmes like Community Employment and the Work Placement Experience Programme which help people get hands on work experience.”

PQ raised with Minister: 

To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide a breakdown, by county, of the number of people who have been in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance payment for 12 months or longer; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The number of persons with a Jobseeker’s Allowance claim duration of 12 months or longer, by county, are shown in the attached table. Note that casual Jobseekers who work up to 3 days a week while receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance are excluded from the Figures. Figures refer to the week ending 03 May 2025.

County Number of persons

Carlow 846

Cavan 820

Clare 1,308

Cork 3,365

Donegal 2,478

Dublin 12,726

Galway 2,382

Kerry 1,702

Kildare 1,576

Kilkenny 802

Laois 853

Leitrim 553

Limerick 2,023

Longford 698

Louth 2,072

Mayo 1,638

Meath 1,358

Monaghan 525

Offaly 957

Roscommon 687

Sligo 783

Tipperary 1,580

Waterford 1,561

Westmeath 1,057

Wexford 2,058

Wicklow 1,356

Total 47,764