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Abolish Jobseekers Benefit (Jobseekers Allowance is much better); No I am not suggesting abolishing the dole, just changing its internal workings, and removing a streaming which is bad news for claimants.

In Ireland, you see, there are two forms of what is commonly called the “Dole”.

• Jobseekers Benefit - which is based on a persons past employment contributions
• Jobseekers Allowance - which anyone can get if they can pass a means test showing they need money today 

The idea, is that a person who becomes unemployed starts off on Jobseekers Benefit which is somehow morally superior - because they are not leeching, they are using up their own contributions. I like the idea because it makes the claimant feel less guilty, they feel they are only claiming back what they are entitled to.

However, once we set emotions aside I contend that Jobseekers Benefit is actually a bad deal for the claimant. It should be abolished and everyone should instead go on Jobseekers Allowance. So lets switch the order around, we will start our comparison with Jobseekers Allowance (which has many advantages), and finished with Jobseekers Benefit (which lacks those advantages)

Jobseekers Benefit, is like the medical card, it is a key to many other services, that are not openly advertised.
(The Medical Card allows discounted Freedom of Information requests FFS!)

Why is Jobseekers Allowance Better?

• Jobseekers Allowance has no end date,
  whereas
  Jobseekers Benefit ends in 9 months, or 12 depending on an individuals contributions
• Jobseekers Allowance is not taxable by the Revenue Commissioners,
  whereas
  Jobseekers Benefit is taxable.

However it is possible to avoid taxation on Jobseekers Benefit if “you are participating in a short-time working arrangement”. That’s according to Revenue Leaflet Taxation of Jobseekers Benefit - IT24. Short-time employment means employment in which the employees have been transferred from a normal working week (which is not defined, but we will assume to mean  a5 days week) to a short-time working arrangement each week (e.g. 3 days on / 2 days off) or within a period of four consecutive weeks (e.g. 1 week on / 1 week off; 2 weeks on / 2 weeks off; 3 weeks on / 1 week off).

The mechanics of how one goes about enjoying this tax exemption are not explained, and this brings us to a huge problem in the Irish welfare system; Social Welfare and Taxation are handled by two seperate government organs, The Department of Social & Family Affairs and the Revenue Commissioners.

Lets take a side bar here and look at an inefficiency;
When a claimant fills in a Tax Return the Revenue only ask for the name of his Social Welfare payment (Jobseekers Benefit), and the amount he received in the tax year. The Department of Social Welfare’s weekly “pay slips” for want of a better term do not include a running total, so in order to find out how much he received in a year the claimant must add up the totals of all his payments! It is possible to request a statement from the Department of Social Welfare, but that’s a secret that only accountants know about, oops. Plus it wastes tax payers money on postage. In the real world the likelihood is that a claimant just won’t submit a Revenue return Form 12, but if he did would he really add up all his “pay slips” would he have kept them all? I don’t think so. So the real way of avoiding paying tax on Jobseekers Benefit it to keep a low profile by not submitting a tax return.

However, since 2006 the computer systems of the Department of Social Welfare and the Revenue Commissioner have been linked. Alas the linkage conveniently doesn’t extend to the Department of Social Welfare informing a the Revenue Commissioners that a claimant’s Jobseekers Benefit was But getting back the the point of how to avoid paying tax on Jobseekers Benefit

Since 2006 their two computer systems have been linked in some fashion.But in order to enjoy the exemption for “a short-time working arrangement” a claimant will have to get something called a “Certificate of taxable benefit” from the Department of Social Welfare. Note how this certificate is not mentioned at all in the Revenue Leaflet Taxation of Jobseekers Benefit - IT24. Who wrote that leaflet? Are they still employed? Can we blame them? They were writing a Leaflet for the Revenue, they cannot comment on the internal workings on another Department, there are lines of demarcation here you know.

and speaking of different Departments brings us nicely to FA, a completely separate government organ….

• Jobseekers Allowance; opens up many FAS jobs. Many are limited to persons who have been on Jobseekers Allowance for x months. I have seen numerous Clerical/Office jobs that sounded interesting, but I have been unable to apply for. I contacted my local TD’s one of whom asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs in the Dail, but here answer was a copy and paste vague answer to the effect that the Department offers a range of schemes, and didn’t address the actual question.
  whereas
  Jobseekers Benefit; is of little use with FAS.

Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.