This question arises from one of the recommendations outlined in the report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, which is an excellent report. I would recommend all Members of the House read and give careful consideration to it. Recommendation 12.2 reads:

The Commission recommends that working-age payments should be reformed to move towards an income related working-age assistance payment available to all households. The payment should be designed so as to avoid subsidising low-paid employment.

This chimed with commitment number 43 in the Pathways to Work strategy, which undertakes to "Prepare a paper on options to modify the longer term jobseeker assistance payment by utilising the Revenue real time earnings data to adjust payment levels in line with a person’s weekly earnings, to guarantee a basic income floor and ensure that in all cases a person’s income increases when they work." Can the Taoiseach inform the House when it is planned for that options paper to be prepared and published?

I thank the Deputy for raising this. Work is under way on progressing this commitment in the Department of Social Protection. Consideration is being given to the development of a new working age payment. The Minister for Social Protection will be in a position to provide more detail as this project develops. It is a very significant project and requires detailed analysis. Options are being examined to modify or merge existing supports by utilising Revenue's real-time earning data to adjust payment levels in line with a person's weekly earnings to guarantee a basic income floor and to ensure that in all cases, a person's income increases when they work. Technological advancements support this type of model through the sharing of real-time earnings data between the Department of Social Protection and Revenue. The Commission on Taxation and Welfare has also recommended that working age payments should be reformed to move towards an income-related working age assistance payment available to all households, and that the payment should be designed so as to avoid subsidising low-paid employment.