New data released to\u00a0 Peadar Toib\u00edn TD show that 31% of the total number of persons on Jobseekers Payments are non-nationals, a finding the Aont\u00fa leader said is of concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The numbers released by the Minister for Social Protection in response to a parliamentary question show there are a total of 107,131 people in receipt of the payment, and that 73,487 are Irish nationals (69%)\u00a0 while 33,644 (31%) people are non-Irish.<\/p>\n
That means \u20ac543m was spent on jobseekers last year for non-Irish persons, while \u20ac1.19bn was spent on Irish recipients, the Aont\u00fa TD\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n
Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn said: \u201cThe proportion of people who were born outside of Ireland and who are drawing down jobseekers is bigger than that their proportion in the general public. This is of concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the CSO non-citizens make up 16% of the population, he said \u2013 but pointed to the statistics from the CSO which show the percentage of foreign born individuals within the population is 23%.<\/p>\n
In this case, the total categorised as Irish nationals include persons born overseas but who may have been awarded citizenship here.<\/p>\n
T\u00f3ib\u00edn said the figures released \u201cshow that non-Irish born people make up 31% of the number of people on job seekers. We believe that we should help those who are fleeing war and violence and that many immigrants are working hard in our hospitals and nursing homes. But these figures also show that 33,644 people who were born outside the country are not working at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a point that\u2019s seldom raised in the debate on immigration. There is a cost to it. We are spending \u20ac543m on Job Seekers every year for non-Irish born people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not good for the country and it\u2019s not good for the non-Irish resident. Its not good for anyone for the government to bring people into the country and for them to not be working,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a very tight labour market, where employers are crying out for workers. It\u2019s not as if the jobs aren\u2019t there. The European Union states that if an EU citizen wants to stay in Ireland for over six months, they must fund themselves and not be a burden social welfare. For EU citizens who are not funding themselves after six months, under EU law, the government has the right to return these people to their home countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople cannot go to the United States and live primarily on social welfare. You cannot move to Australia or Sweden and live on welfare. This is true for most countries. Ireland is an outlier in these terms. We are calling on the government to inject some commonsense into the system and ensure that we align with best international practice and this is brought to an end,\u201d the Aont\u00fa leader said.<\/p>\n
The Minister in releasing the data said\u00a0 \u201cExpenditure is recorded at the scheme level, not the individual level, and it is not possible to accurately attribute expenditure to individual characteristics such as nationality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecipient figures by nationality are available.\u00a0 The number of non-Irish nationals in receipt of Jobseeker\u2019s payments for 2021 \u2013 2025 is shown in the table below.\u00a0 All figures are as of the 31 December of each year.\u00a0 Note that Jobseeker\u2019s Pay-Related Benefit was introduced in April 2025 and replace Jobseeker\u2019s Benefit for fully unemployed customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNationality breakdowns are published on a quarterly and annual basis.\u00a0 The Quarterly Statistical Report is a count of unique persons who received at least one payment in the given quarter.\u00a0 The most recent report refers to Q1 2026; the Q2 report is scheduled for publication in August.\u00a0 The Annual Statistics Report is a count of all persons on 31st December with an Awarded and Paying claim on that date.\u00a0 The 2025 Annual Statistics Report was published in July, and nationality breakdowns are published in table B4.\u00a0 An archive of the Annual Reports is also available on gov.ie,\u201d\u00a0 he added.<\/p>\n