Plans to introduce tiered social welfare payments from next year do not go far enough, a Siptu leader has said.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys will bring proposals to Cabinet on Tuesday for a new benefit system which will see tiered payments kick in when people lose their jobs.
Under the proposals, people who lose their job will get up to 60 per cent of their gross income, capped at €450 per week for the first three months, dropping to 55 per cent of prior income for another three months capped at €375 per week, and then half their income subject to a €300 cap for a final three-month period.
Workers will have to have at least five years PRSI contributions to qualify for the enhanced payments.
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SIPTU divisional organiser Adrian Kane told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that the trade union movement had been campaigning for such a move for many years and had highlighted the issue when Tara Mines closed earlier this year.
The Government plans could have gone further, he said. The State needs to step up when people need support most acutely. He pointed out that 70 per cent of people are back at work after six months, so they need the most help earlier.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions had proposed a payment of a maximum of 70 per cent of salary at a maximum of €550 for nine months. When asked about suggestions that this would not encourage people to seek work, Mr Kane said there was a need to move beyond “these kind of outdated Victorian values that you can’t trust working people, that you have to starve them back to work”.
“The poverty line for an individual is €298 per week in this country. The present jobseekers benefit is up to €220 per week and will move to €230 on January 1st. This needs to be the best country for people to work in. And we’re way out of line with regard to the model that exists on mainland Europe,” he said.
“That’s what we need to get to. We can afford to get to it. Workers pay much more in USC and PRSI in this country, 24.3 per cent on average. On the Continent it’s 21.1 per cent. If you’re unemployed in Belgium today, you’ll get 91 per cent of your income for the first two months. You’d be on 79 per cent after a year. So we’re completely out of kilter. We can do better and we need to do better.”
