UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS:UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS should be reduced in line with falling prices, according to the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Further decreases in the rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit and Allowance “may be necessary once the recovery begins if the level of benefits creates disincentives to return to work”, the OECD said.
The Government should consider introducing a system whereby the rate of payment an unemployed person receives reduces over time, according to the organisation. Ireland is “unusual” in the number of agencies involved in helping the unemployed, the OECD noted, recommending that a single organisation should deal with both the payment of benefits and return-to-work schemes. “Claimants should ultimately be required to enter an effective work programme if other options are not taken up.”
Single parents should be required to seek work once their children reach school age. This should be implemented in conjunction with an increase in the supply of childcare, including out-of-school-hours care.
The home carer’s tax credit should be phased out, it added.
The OECD said counsellors at State training agency Fás should follow up on job referrals and participation in labour market programmes.
Checks should be made on people in receipt of disability benefits to ensure they are entitled to these benefits, as the payments could “become a pathway away from the labour market, especially for older workers”, it said.
The school leaving age should be raised to 18 from 16, with more training options provided to curtail youth unemployment.
Tax and benefit incentives to stay in the workforce beyond the age of 65 should be improved to encourage people to work beyond this age.
The minimum wage is high by international standards, according to the OECD, and “may become more binding as wages fall”. The think tank recommended that the level of payment be “reassessed, and reviewed on an annual basis”.
Despite Ireland’s return to net migration, “continued efforts” will be required to ensure migrants who remain in Ireland are provided with the appropriate job and language training. Multiple-entry visas should be used to attract high-skilled workers with skills that are needed in Ireland.
