Major changes could be planned for the Jobseeker's Allowance as well as how people collect payments under plans being considered by Government.
Under the plans, jobseeker's payments could be linked to a person's former wages before becoming unemployed.
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, plans to crack down on welfare fraud by linking payments to how much a person was earning before they became unemployed.
The way a claimant receive the payment could also be changed with people having to collect at the post office rather than it automatically showing in a bank account.
"I’m going to be looking now in the new year to move the unemployment payments back to the post offices because in fairness, the post office was the place where people collected their money before the pandemic, and that was always the case," Minister Humphreys said.
The Pandemic Unemployment Payment looks likely to play an important role in the future of the Jobseekers payment. There are currently five different rate bands in the PUP ranging from €203 to €350 per week.
How much a person receives in the PUP is based on what wage the claimant received before signing on. This is now being considered as the template for changes to the Jobseekers payment.
"What we have at the minute with the PUP is five different bands and I think that we can learn from that," Minister Humphreys told the Irish Independent.
"Obviously, we were still in the middle of this pandemic but it’s something I want to bring forward and I’d like to look at proposals."
