Incentive to work: The vast majority of people on the Live Register approximately 75% - receive only a personal payment

t of 188 per week or less , and no additional benefits su h as rent or mortgage supplement! "or that reason, there is a lear in entive to #or$, and this is demonstrated by the fa t that, as jobs be ome available, they are being ta$en up% the Live Register on a seasonally adjusted basis has fallen &' months in a ro#! The ontention that employers annot ompete #ith the range of benefits available to people on so ial #elfare should be onsidered in this ontext ie, that approximately three-(uarters of jobsee$er ustomers are in re eipt of a #ee$ly payment of )&** or less! +n addition, many jobsee$ers #ould continue to be entitled to a medical card for a number of years after ta$ing up #or$! That there is a lear in entive to #or$ is supported by the ,Taxes, -elfare and -or$ +n entives. study by /R0+ experts in 12&1, #hi h found that #or$ does pay better than #elfare! 3The /0R+4s release at the time stated% ,5e# resear h finds that * out of &2 unemployed people #ould in rease their in ome by at least 52 per ent if they #ere to obtain a job! 0ix out of &2 #ould more than double their in ome if they ould find a job! These results refute the impression reated by sele ted non-typi al examples that most unemployed people are 6better off on the dole4!.7 8pproximately *% of those on the Live Register re eive Rent Supplement, and the 9epartment a $no#ledges that in some of the ases, Rent 0upplement an a t as a disin entive to #or$ be ause you are generally not entitled to re eive the payment if in full-time employment :;2 hours or more a #ee$<! This is #hy the 9epartment is #or$ing #ith the 9epartment of the /nvironment to introdu e a Housing Assistance ayment :=8><, #hi h #ill repla e Rent 0upplement! =8> #ill subsidise rent for people on #elfare and in lo#-in ome employment so that they #ill not lose housing assistan e #hen they move from #elfare to #or$! +t is often missed that the 9epartment provides supports to people to ta$e up, and remain in, #or$! !amily Income Supplement :"+0< is one example! "+0 is a #ee$ly tax-free top-up payment for employees on lo# pay #ith hildren! 8t present, more than ??,222 #or$ing families #ith more than '*,222 hildren benefit from the s heme! This year, the 9epartment4s spend on "+0 #ill in rease to more than )1*2 million a 15% in rease sin e 12&1! /xplaining this in rease earlier this year, @inister Aurton said% ,+ am in reasing the provision for "+0 again in 12&?, despite the pressures on the overall #elfare budget, be ause of its ru ial importan e to #or$ing families! 8ll the eviden e sho#s that people are better off in #or$, and "+0 helps re ipients to gain a firm foothold in #or$ and build a better future for their families! 8 ru ial element of the >ath#ays to -or$ strategy is ensuring that #or$ al#ays pays and preventing long-term dependen y on #elfare! "+0 is a $ey element in that pro ess, be ause it4s a stepping stone ensuring that re ipients are better off in employment and an #or$ to#ards finan ial independen e over time!. 8nother support is the art"time #ob Incentive Sc$eme% This s heme an allo# long-term unemployed people to ta$e up part-time #or$ and re eive a #ee$ly

payment instead of a jobsee$er4s payment! 8lternatively, in some ases jobsee$er4s benefit or allo#an e may ontinue to be paid, depending on the level of earnings, #here a person #or$s on a part-time or asual basis for up to three days per #ee$! +n 9e ember 12&;, the 9epartment laun hed a &enefit of 'ork ready reckoner, #hi h is available to jobsee$ers and employers on ###!#elfare!ie! This tool gives an indi ation of the differen e bet#een a person4s potential in ome from #or$ and the #elfare payments they urrently re eive! +t demonstrates that, for the vast majority of people on the live register, #or$ pays! (perational arrangements for temporary work: Bther than in ex eptional ases, there should be no undue delay in re-instating a jobsee$er4s payment after a number of months of temporary or seasonal #or$! =o#ever, additional arrangements have been put in pla e to ensure immediate resumption of payment after short periods of temporary employment or training! -here a jobsee$er ta$es up temporary #or$ for a short period or avails of a shortterm training ourse, the laim is temporarily suspended :rather than being losed< so that it an be re"instated wit$out delay #hen the #or$ or training finishes! This temporary suspension, #hi h #as originally set at a maximum of ? #ee$s, #as in reased to * #ee$s in 12&1 and these arrangements are put in pla e on e the ustomer notifies the lo al offi e of an offer of temporary #or$! The potential to extend these arrangements is being examined having due regard to issues of administration and s heme integrity! Intreo Services : The 9epartment of 0o ial >rote tion has undergone a signifi ant transformation in re ent years #ith the merger of #elfare and employment servi es #hi h, up until 12&1, #ere provided by three separate organisations! This on-going transformation agenda is underpinned by the 9epartment4s at$ways to 'ork strategy, fo used on trying to ensure that as many as possible of ne# or other va an ies in the e onomy are filled by andidates from the Live Register! 8 $ey element of the >ath#ays strategy is Intreo, the 9epartment4s transformative approa h to helping people get ba $ to #or$, offering an integrated employment and support servi e! +ntreo entres are one-stop shops for jobsee$ers #here they an get in ome and employment supports in the one pla e for the first time! )mployer )ngagement and incentives: The development of loser lin$s #ith employers as a means of se uring #or$ opportunities for jobsee$ers is another $ey aspe t of the transformation agenda! To

this end, the 9epartment established a ne# employer relations division in early 12&1 and appointed nominated employer engagement managers in ea h of its &; divisions to in rease its engagement #ith employers! 8s part of the pro ess of building loser lin$s #ith employers the 9epartment ran a series of employer road-sho#s in 12&1C12&; and also hosted several employment and advi e events a ross the ountry! 0imilar events are urrently ta$ing pla e in 12&?! @ar$eting ollateral #as developed and a parti ular effort #as made to in rease a#areness of the existing re ruitment subsidies available to employers, su h as Dobs>lus! #obsplus* an employer in entive s heme, #as introdu ed in Duly 12&; by the 9epartment to en ourage and re#ard employers #ho offer full-time employment opportunities of over ;2 hours per #ee$ to people #ho are long-term unemployed on the Live Register! There are t#o levels of in entive% )7,522 for re ruits unemployed for more than &1 months, but less than 1? monthsE and )&2,222 for re ruits unemployed for more than 1? months! Hospitality sector vacancies: +n relation to the number of va an ies in the hospitality industry, this represents a va an y rate of less than ;% #hi h is not untypi al, parti ularly in industries #ith a lot of lo#-paid and seasonal employment! 8lso, in ertain other industries, a parti ular issue affe ting levels of ta$e-up may be the introdu tion of Fero-hour ontra ts at hourly #age rates #ith #or$ers obliged to be available to #or$ on re(uest over a seven-day period, often in luding unso ial hours, #ithout guarantee of any minimum level of employment! Summary: The intera tion of so ial #elfare, salaries and tax to determine the value of #or$ is very omplex and is being examined by the 8dvisory Group on Tax and 0o ial -elfare! =o#ever, in the past it has been sho#n that the number of people #ho #ould settle for so ial #elfare in preferen e to ta$ing up employment is very lo#! +n the &''2s and early 1222s, the levels of unemployment fell to re ord lo# levels, among the lo#est in /urope! +n effe t, +reland had full employment and there #as a high level of parti ipation in the labour for e! This indi ates that #hen jobs are available people #ill ta$e them up, and the 9epartment #ill ontinue to provide the high level of supports ne essary to en ourage and in entivise people! +n relation to people #or$ing on a ash-in-hand basis, unfortunately, this an be instigated by either an employer or a potential employee and, #hile both may be liable to prose ution, the employed person is also li$ely to be adversely affe ted as a la $ of so ial insuran e ontributions for that employment may affe t entitlement to so ial insuran e payments in the future!

8ny employer #ho finds eviden e that people on the Live Register #on4t a ept a legitimate offer of employment, or any potential employee #ho finds that they #ill not be ta$en on by an employer other than on a ash-in-hand basis, is advised to inform the 9epartment in order that the ase an be examined and that any ne essary follo# up a tion may be onsidered! /590