Jobseeker's Allowance

Jobseeker's Allowance is a means-tested payment made to people who are unemployed and

• who do not qualify forJobseeker's Pay-related Benefit, Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit for the Self-Employed
• whose entitlement to Jobseeker's Pay-related Benefit, Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit for the Self-Employed has expired

or

• who do qualify for Jobseeker's Pay-related Benefit, Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit for the Self-Employed but choose to claim optional Jobseeker's Allowance instead.

Whether you qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance depends on your income and whether you are habitually resident in Ireland. In other words, you live here and have close links to Ireland.

Identity verification

Those wishing to apply for a Jobseeker's Allowance payment must have authenticated their identity to SAFE Level 2 before their claim can be paid.

This means that we must have established and verified your identity to a satisfactory level.

This applies to both online and paper Jobseeker's Allowance applications.

If you are already verified at SAFE Level 2, you will be able to access online services through your verified MyGovID account.

To get to SAFE Level 2, you must attend your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office to complete your registration. Once you have completed the SAFE Level 2 registration process, you may get your account verified. This will give you access to all online services through your MyGovID account which includes applying for a jobseeker’s payment.

To qualify for Jobseeker's Allowance, you must:

• be over 18 and under 66 years of age
• satisfy a means test
• be habitually resident in Ireland
• be capable of work
• be available for full-time work
• be genuinely seeking work
• be fully or partly unemployed (at least 4 days out of work in every 7)

Note: If you are self-employed, the last condition does not apply.

You can work for up to 3 days a week and may still get Jobseeker’s Allowance for the other days. If you are getting Jobseeker’s Allowance, you can use a benefit of work estimator to see how taking up part-time work would affect the amount you would get. The Reckoner works out the total amount you would get if you take up part-time work (including any Working Family Payment payable for the family) and compares this to what you are getting in jobseeker's payments (including Rent Supplement).

Means test

A means test is an assessment of all of your household income, savings, shares, investments or property that you own, apart from your own home. Your means test will also include any income that your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant has.

If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is in receipt of Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit, the rate of Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit is treated as means from another Social Welfare payment. You will receive the full personal rate applicable to the scheme, and half rate child support payments for each qualified child, half the rate of Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit is assessable, along with all other means.

Your Jobseeker’s Allowance claim will be reviewed every 13 weeks in line with the rate changes of Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit.

The department adds your income from all sources, and, from this, calculates the means you have each week. Your means is used to work out the amount you may receive.

Child maintenance you or your spouse, partner or cohabitant get is no longer included in the means test. However, if you or your spouse, partner or cohabitant are getting maintenance that is not child maintenance, this will continue to be means-tested.

Rental disregard

A statutory rental disregard of up to €269.23 per week (€14,000 per year) applies in respect of rental income from renting out a room(s) in your home to someone who is not an employee or an immediate family member. See Means Assessment Operational Guidelines for more details.

The rental disregard of €269.23 per week (€14,000 per year) also applies where an increase for a qualified adult is paid. See Increase for a Qualified Adult Operational Guidelines for more details.

Your rate of payment will depend on your income and the outcome of the means assessment. If you have no means, are aged 25 or over, and you are single, you will get the full weekly payment of €244.

A full-rate Child Support Payment is usually payable for each qualified child who is normally resident with you.

The current rates are as follows.

Jobseekers aged 18 to 24 and full-rate Jobseeker’s Allowance.

If you are aged 18 to 24 you are eligible for the full personal rate of €244 of Jobseeker’s Allowance if you meet any of these conditions:

• you have a qualified child
• you are transferring directly to Jobseeker’s Allowance from Disability Allowance
• you are participating in an approved training or education course - Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)
• if you were in the care of the HSE, Child and Family Agency (TUSLA) during the 12 months before you reached the age of 18
• if you are living independently and you receive Rent Supplement, Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), Local Authority Housing or housing provided by certain Approved Housing Bodies.

The amount that you receive will be less if you have means assessed.

If you are a jobseeker and under 25 and have completed a course of education, training, Community Employment, Rural Social Scheme or TÚS, you will revert to the appropriate age-related rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance, if you had previously been in receipt of such a rate.

Payment method

Jobseeker’s Allowance is paid weekly in arrears. All jobseekers are paid weekly to their local post office except if you are working part-time or if you are over 62.

If you work on a part-time/casual basis, your payment will be made into a financial institution or by cheque for administrative reasons.

If you start part-time/casual work

Your employer needs to complete the UP80 form below. This form can be downloaded and filled in. When your employer completes the form you need to return it to your local Intreo Centre

You can now declare the days you are working and not working online through www.MyWelfare.ie This means that you will not have to submit paper dockets each week to your local Intreo Centre/Social Welfare Branch Office.

Please see our guide to part-time/casual/short-time work online certification for further information.

Voluntary work

If you are on Jobseeker's Allowance and wish to volunteer, you can find all of the information here.

If you are on Jobseeker's Allowance and are a professional artist, you may continue to receive Jobseeker’s Allowance if you continue to satisfy the conditions for the payment. You are exempted from participating in the department’s activation programme for one year only. You can find more information on Jobseeker’s Allowance and Professional Artists here.

Fish Assist

A self-employed fisherman or woman on a low income may qualify for Fish Assist.

Fish Assist is not a separate scheme. It comes under Jobseeker's Allowance.

To qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance, you must satisfy all the qualifying conditions including being available for full-time work and genuinely seeking work.

For more information, contact your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office.

Jobseekers over 62

If you are over the age of 62 and receiving a jobseeker’s payment, you do not have to:

• meet with a case officer in your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office
• sign on monthly in person in your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office. However, if you choose the on-line signing option, you are required to sign monthly through your verified MyWelfare.ie online account.

Absence from the State including holidays, funerals abroad and social welfare payments

If you are already getting Jobseeker's Allowance you must contact your local Intreo Centre or Branch Office to check your entitlements before going away. You will find full details on holiday entitlements here. You are entitled to be absent from the State, including for holidays or funerals abroad, for 2 weeks every calendar year (12 days excluding Sundays) and get the 2 weeks payment when you return. You must tell us in advance of leaving the State.

Working when retired

You can continue to work after you turn 66 years old and receive a State Pension if you satisfy all of the qualifying conditions to receive a pension.

Please see State Pension (Contributory) and State Pension (Non-contributory) for more information on how to qualify for these payments.

If you are an employee paying a Class A social insurance contribution, ask your employer to change this to Class J when you turn 66. Your payslip will tell you which class of PRSI contribution you pay.

If you are self-employed paying a Class S social insurance contribution, you should pay PRSI at Class M after your 66th birthday.

Apply online

If you have a verified MyGovID account you can apply online on MyWelfare.ie.

If you cannot apply online

You can request a Jobseeker’s Allowance paper application form, UP 1, by e-mailing Jobseekersforms@welfare.ie. Alternatively, you can also apply for Jobseeker’s Allowance by going to your local Intreo Centre or Branch Office.

Please bring:

• identification – your public service card, passport or driving licence
• proof of your address – a utility bill or letter from a government department
• evidence of your income, including bank statements

Documentation checklist when applying for Jobseeker's Allowance

If you are making a repeat claim (less than 12 months since your last claim), you should complete a repeat claim form UP6

Bring all documentation to your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office when you attend to make your claim. You can apply even if you do not have all of the documents but you cannot get a decision on your application until you have provided all of the documents.

You can appeal a decision if you are unhappy with it. You should appeal within 21 days of the decision and you can ask for an oral hearing.

The easiest and quickest way to make your appeal is online on www.MyWelfare.ie. All you need is a verified MyGovID account. You can get a verified MyGovID account if you have a Public Services Card, a verified mobile phone number and an email address.

An appeals officer, whose decision is final, will then decide your case. Some cases can be decided without an oral hearing.

If new information comes to light or your circumstances change, you can apply for Jobseeker's Allowance again.

You can find more information on how to make an appeal here: How to appeal a decision about your social welfare claim.

Operational guidelines describe the processes and procedures that staff in the department follow when carrying out their work.

• Operational Guidelines: Jobseeker's Allowance
• Operational Guidelines: Jobseeker's Allowance Assessing Income from Insurable Employment
• Operational Guidelines: Jobseeker's Allowance - Benefit and Privilege: Means Test
• Operational Guidelines: Payment-related issues