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Unemployment Insurance in EU->Ireland

Unemployment insurance in Ireland

This article tells you what you need to know in order to claim unemployment benefits in Ireland.

Here we cover:

  • Jobseeker’s Benefit
  • Jobseeker’s Benefit (self-employed)
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Redundancy Payments

If you have lived, worked and/or paid insurance in another EU country, your time living in another EU country, the period you have worked or the contributions you have paid may be taken into account when your benefits are calculated in Ireland.

When can I claim?

If you are unemployed you may be eligible for Jobseeker’s Benefit, Jobseeker’s Benefit (self-employed), Jobseeker’s Allowance or if you were made redundant you may have an entitlement to a Redundancy lump sum Payment.

If you lose your job because you were fired for misconduct or if you refuse another job offer, you can be disqualified from claiming for a certain time.

If you lose your job because your employer went out of business or is changing the type of skills they need from their workforce, then you may have been made redundant.

Depending on your age and how long you worked for your employer, you may be entitled to a redundancy lump sum payment from your employer. If your employer is financially unable to pay employees their statutory redundancy payments entitlements, then the employer can submit an application on behalf of the employee under the Redundancy Payment Scheme to the Department of Social Protection.

What conditions do I need to meet?

To claim Jobseeker’s Benefit you will need to have paid ‘contributions’ into your Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI). Most employees, self-employed people and apprentices over 16 are insured through the payment of contributions. There are 3 waiting days before the benefit starts.

You must be:

  • Capable of and available for work
  • Genuinely seeking work and age between 18 and 66

To claim Jobseeker’s Benefit for the self-employed you will need to have paid ‘contributions’ into your Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI). Most employees, self-employed people and apprentices over 16 are insured through the payment of contributions. There are 3 waiting days before the benefit starts.

You must be:

  • Capable of and available for work
  • Genuinely seeking work
  • Over 18 and under 66

There can be special rules for people commuting across borders, living and working in different countries, but social insurance contributions paid in an EU country or other countries covered by EU Regulations will be added to your Irish contributions.

Jobseeker’s Allowance is not based on contributions but is means tested. You will need to be habitually resident.

To get Jobseeker's Allowance you must:

  • Be unemployed (you must be fully unemployed or unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7)
  • Be over 18 and under 66 years of age
  • Be capable of work
  • Be available for and genuinely seeking work
  • Satisfy the means test

Meet the Habitual Residence Condition You can be refused a jobseeker’s payment if you do not meet all the conditions that apply to the payment. You can be disqualified from a payment for a period of time in certain circumstances. You can also have your payment reduced (and subsequently stopped altogether for a period of time) if you do not attend meetings or participate in appropriate employment schemes, training or work experience. Further details on this can be found here.

Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment is paid to people whose youngest child is aged between 7 and 13 years inclusive and who are not cohabiting. It aims to support you into the workforce while also acknowledging that you are caring for young children. You can take part in a course of education, training or employment scheme and get Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment. When you start getting a Jobseeker’s Transitional payment you will be scheduled to attend a meeting with one of the Department of Social Protection’s case officers. The purpose of this meeting is to identify and access supports (such as education, training and employment schemes) that will prepare you for full-time employment.

If you get a one-off Redundancy Payment that is over €50,000 you may not be able to claim Jobseeker’s Benefit for a maximum of nine weeks. If you are over 55 this restriction does not apply.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Claiming the following benefits will require that you have all the necessary paperwork sorted out. Claiming can require paperwork from your side. Make use of the Citizens Information Ireland checklist to see if you have all you need.

Jobseeker’s Benefit

Payment of Jobseeker’s Benefit is usually made from the fourth day of unemployment, but in some cases it starts immediately.

This is how long you can claim Jobseeker’s Benefit:

  • For people with 260 or more PRSI contributions paid, it will be 9 months
  • For people with fewer than 260 PRSI contributions paid, it will be 6 months

Jobseekers Benefit (Self-Employed)

Payment of Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed) is made from the first day of unemployment.

This is how long you can claim Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed):

  • For people with 260 or more self-employment PRSI contributions paid, it will be 9 months
  • For people with fewer than 260 PRSI self-employment contributions paid, it will be 6 months

You should claim the benefit on the first day you are not working and will need to go to your Intreo Centre or local Social Welfare Branch Office.

Average weekly earnings Personal rate Qualified adult rate Increase for a qualified child
€300 or more €232 €154.00 €42 under 12 years (full-rate) €21 (half-rate) and €50 on 12 years and over (full-rate) €25 (half-rate)
€220 - €299.99 €181.70 €99.70
€150 - €219.99 €149.60 €99.70
Less than €150 €104.10 €99.70

Note that the payment of qualified adult and child increases depends on the income your spouse or partner may have.

If you have worked in countries covered by EU Regulations, ask the authorities in the country/ies where you have worked for a U1 document (former E 301 form). You should then give the form to the benefits authority dealing with your claim - the authority where you live - so they can take account of periods of insurance or employment in other countries.

Without the form, the authority dealing with your claim can still obtain the necessary information from other countries directly. But a completed U1 will probably speed up your claim.

Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds

Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds is a payment for people aged 65 who have ceased employment or self-employment and who satisfy the pay-related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.

Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds may be paid from the date of your 65th birthday until the date of your 66th birthday as long as you continue to satisfy the conditions for this payment.

To qualify for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds, you must:

  • be 65 years of age
  • have ceased employment/self-employment
  • be resident in the Republic of Ireland
  • satisfy the (PRSI) contribution conditions

Rates of payment

The full weekly personal rate is €232.00

Increase for a Qualified Adult: €154.00

Increase for a Qualified Child (under 12): €46 (full-rate) €23 (half-rate)

Increase for a Qualified Child (over 12): €54 (full-rate) €27 (half-rate)

Jobseeker’s Allowance

This is also usually paid from the fourth day of unemployment, for an unlimited period, up to the age of 66.

Jobseeker’s Allowance rates in 2024 - Maximum rate for people aged 25 or over

New and existing claimants Personal rate Increase for a qualified adult Increase for a qualified child
Maximum rate €232 €154.00 €46 under 12 years and €54 on 12 years and over
Maximum rate for people aged 18-24:
Age Personal rate Increase for a qualified adult
18-24 €141.70 €141.70

There are some exceptions to age-related Jobseeker's Allowance payments for people aged 24 and under, including for claimants with dependent children.

Redundancy Payments

To qualify for a statutory Redundancy lump sum payment the following conditions must be met:

  • Employee must be over 16
  • The job must no longer exist
  • 104 weeks of continuous employment with the same employer
  • Employment is fully insurable under the Social Welfare Acts

It is the employer’s responsibility in the first instance to make statutory redundancy payments to all eligible employees.

There is a time limit of one year from the date of termination to apply to your employer for a redundancy payment.

You should contact your employer or in the case of a employer insolvency the appointed e.g. liquidator. It is recommended that you do this in writing so there is a record of the communication.

Redundancy Payment Scheme

In situations where an employer is genuinely unable to pay statutory redundancy entitlements due to financial difficulties or insolvency the State provides a safety net for employees to ensure they receive their statutory entitlements.

An application for payment under the Redundancy Payments Scheme may be submitted by the employer or e.g. the liquidator to the Department of Social Protection on your behalf. When such a redundancy payment is made from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF), a debt is raised against the employer.

If your employer refuses to pay your statutory entitlements or make an application on your behalf under the Redundancy payment Scheme to the Department of Social Protection, then you will need to submit a claim to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and seek adjudication. Once you have an award in your favour, the employer has up to 42 days to pay your award.

If after 42 days your employer has still not paid you your statutory redundancy, then you as an employee may apply directly to the Department of Social Protection for payment under the Redundancy Payment Scheme.

Useful links

Jargon busters

  • PRSI stands for Pay Related Social Insurance - the money your employer deducts directly from your wages
  • Means-testing - Your means under the various headings (for example, cash income, earnings from employment and capital) are added together to find your total means. For most means-tested payments, the rate of social welfare payment you can get, if any, is reduced on a sliding scale according to your means
  • A qualified adult is your adult dependant for whom you may get an extra amount
  • Habitual resident - The term ‘habitual resident’ is defined in EU law - see: EU Regulation on the coordination of social security systems. In practice it means the place where you have your centre of interests

Forms you may need to fill in

Know your rights

The links below set out your rights in law.

Who do you need to contact?

This page was last updated in 2024.

  1. Unemployment insurance in Europe →

  2. Unemployment Insurance in Ireland

You might also be interested in:

⇒EU social security coordination
⇒Unemployment Insurance in the Nordic countries

Key points of EU Unemployment Insurance coordination

  • Transferring periods of work and insurance between EEA countries As an EU citizen you can transfer acquired rights from Unemployment Insurance when moving between EU/EEA contries. In this way it may be easier to become entitled to unemployment benefit in the country you move to.
    In the vast majority of the Member states the aggregation rule become fully applicable as soon as you starts to work in the country. However in Denmark, Belgium and Finland you must work some period there before you can use the aggregation rule.
    You need a PD U1 document in the country you leave or if the involved countries use electronically exhange (EESSI) there will be issued a SED U002. The countries who issues the highest number of PD U1 documents are Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The countries who receives most PD U1 documents are Lithuania and Italy.
  • Transferring unemployment benefits Under certain conditions you can go to another EU country to look for work and continue to receive your unemployment benefits from the country where you became unemployed. The period you can export your unemployment benefits varies from 3 to 6 months in the different Member states.
    You have to apply for a PD U2 document in the country you leave, or if you haven't done that the institution in the receiving country must request a SED U008 from the competent institution in your last country.
    The countries who issues the highest number of PD U2 documents are Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark. Poland is the country who receives by far most PD U2 documents.
  • Unemployment benefits coverage According to OECD the net replacement of income after 2 months of unemployment, for a single person without children whose previous in-work earnings were 67% of the average wage varies from 33 percent (Ireland) to 91 percent (Belgium). Read more here..
  • Having residence in another EU country than where you work? According to EU social security coordination rules you must only be insured against unemployment in one country at a time. As a generel rule this country is where you work.
    In Member states who have compulsory insurance, you will automatically be covered when you start working there.
    However you may be insured by your country of residence if you are posted to a EU/EEA country or work in two or more EU/EEA countries at a time. In these situations you can not your self decide where to have unemployment Insurance, but you (or your employer) must apply for a PD A1 document which states in which country you are covered by social security, including Unemployment Insurance. Special rule also apply for cross-border workers ("frontier workers").
  • Third-country Nationals working in EU/EEANON-EEA citizens are covered by Unemployment Insurance in the EU countries who have compulsory Unemployment Insurance. In countries with voluntary Unemployment Insurance (Denmark, Sweden and Finland) third-country nationals can become member of an Unemployment Insurance Fund.
    In the most countries Third-country nationals can also use the EU Coordination rules when moving within EU/EEA (however not in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).
    Third-country nationals in short-tem working relations often faces problems with actually get Unemployment benefits, even though they have contributed to the system. This is due to the fact that one normally need a residence permit which allow one to take any job, and also because of a qualifying period in most countries between 6-12 months.
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