Over 400 jobseeker’s payment recipients in the Shannonside Northern Sound region had a reduced rate of payment applied due to penalties or sanctions in 2025.
The figures come following a parliamentary question by Dublin Bay South to Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary.
Reduced rates were introduced in 2011 as a means of encouraging jobseekers to engage proactively with Employment Services to assist them find a pathway to employment.
Employment Services supports jobseekers to find work and there are a wide range of supports on offer.
Jobseekers who do not engage with the Intreo Employment Service or who fail to participate in appropriate employment interventions can have their jobseeker’s payment reduced and subsequently be disqualified from their payment for up to 9 weeks.
Locally, 174 took place in Cavan, in Roscommon there were 161 and Longford saw 90.
The figure in Carrick-on-Shannon was considerably less at 14.
