Grants for Jobseekers

There are a number of grants funded by Department of Social Protection that we may be able to access on your behalf.

• Wage Subsidy Scheme provides financial incentives to employers, outside the public sector, to employ a person with a disability. The employee must work for 15 hours or more per week. A person on the Wage Subsidy Scheme is subject to the same conditions of employment as other employees. These conditions include PRSI contributions, annual leave, tax deductions and the going rate for the job. The rate of subsidy is €7.50 per hour and is based on the number of hours worked, giving a total annual subsidy available of €15,210 per annum based on 39 hours week.

  If you are getting Illness Benefit or Invalidity Pension for a disability or health condition you acquired in the last 12 months you may qualify for WSS.

  You must come off these payments to start work. However, you may be able to transfer to Partial Capacity Benefit. This will require a medical assessment, but once you are approved, you will not need another medical assessment for WSS.

• JobsPlus Grant is an incentive from the Department of Social Protection to encourage and reward employers who offer employment opportunities to the long term unemployed. Grants of €7,500 and €10,000 are available.

• JobsPlus Youth is an expansion of the JobsPlus employer incentive scheme, and will see employers receive cash grants to assist with wage costs when they hire persons under the age of 30 on Jobseekers 4 months qualifying period and amounts.

• The Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) is a 6-month, 30 hour per week voluntary work experience programme. The programme is for jobseekers that are currently getting a qualifying social welfare payment and who have been unemployed for six months (156 days) or more.
  The weekly rate of payment is €369.
  See the qualifying list on the gov.ie website.
  If you would like to re-train and gain experience in another type of employment, this programme can help you build new skills and gain work experience. You cannot take a placement where you already have built up experience in the role.
  You can work part-time while you are on the programme, provided the part-time work does not impact your placement. The part-time work cannot be with the WPEP host.

• The Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB) is a social welfare scheme which allows you to return to work (if you have reduced capacity to work) and continue to receive a payment from the Department of Social Protection (DSP). You may not work until you have received approval to do so from the DSP.
  If you are in receipt PCB and you want to access the Wage Subsidy Scheme, you will not need another medical assessment for WSS.

• Job Seekers Pay Related Benefit - Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit is a payment for people whose first day of unemployment is on or after 31 March 2025 and who have paid enough pay-related social insurance (PRSI) contributions. This means that your last day of employment was on or after Friday 28 March 2025.
  Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit means that the income support you may get if you become unemployed will be directly linked to your previous earnings. This will be paid up to a maximum payment amount. You should apply for Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit within 6 weeks of losing your job or this could impact your entitlement.

• Interpreter Grant If you are a job seeker who is deaf, hard of hearing or has speech impairment and are attending job interviews, you may apply for funding to have a sign language interpreter or other interpreter to attend the interview with you. Funding can also be provided to cover the costs of an interpreter during an induction period when you start work.
• The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) scheme encourages people getting certain social welfare payments to become self-employed. If you take part in the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme you can keep a percentage of your social welfare payment for up to 2 years.
• The Back to Work Family Dividend (BTWFD) The Back to Work Family Dividend can be paid with Working Family Payment (formerly Family Income Supplement) and some other non-primary social welfare payments.
• The Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme (PTJI) is a scheme which allows persons who are long-term unemployed to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a special weekly income supplement. Participants in this scheme are expected however to continue to make efforts to find full-time work.


• Employee Retention Grant Scheme (ERGS) This scheme enables employers to retain the services of an employee who acquires a disability that impacts on their ability to continue to do their job.
  Through the ERGS, an employee may be offered re-training so that they can undertake alternate duties, or modified techniques may be devised to enable them to continue doing the same job.
• Working Family Payment Formerly known as Family Income Supplement (FIS), it is a weekly tax-free payment available to employees with children. It gives extra financial support to people on low pay. You must be an employee to qualify for WFP.
  Families getting Working Family Payment will qualify for Fuel Allowance

• Payment Pending Wages If you are currently in receipt of a Jobseekers payment and you are successful in finding full-time employment you will be required to ''sign off'' your Jobseekers payment when you take up employment. In an instance where there is delay between your last Jobseekers payment and the payment of wages from employment you may be able to access a payment from the Department of Social Protection which may be made under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme - which is effectively a ''payment pending wages''. This payment is not repayable. If you need to access such payment, please speak with your Intreo Case Officer.

• Work and Access Work and Access is a set of seven supports to help disabled people to get or stay in work

  1. Workplace Needs Assessment – Available for employers, employees and self-employed people
  2. Communication Support – Available for employees, self-employed and job candidates
  3. In-work Support – Available for employees, self-employed
  4. Personal Reader – If you are blind or visually impaired and need assistance with job-related reading, you may be entitled to a grant to allow you to employ a Personal Reader. Work and Access will pay up to €12,500 per year towards the cost of a personal reader. Available for employees and self-employed people
  5. Work Equipment – Available for employees and self-employed people
  6. Workplace Adaptations – Available for employers and self-employed people
  7. Disability, Equality and Inclusion Training – Available for employers

  For more information visit https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/services/work-and-access/

Wage Subsidy Scheme Examples

Minimum rate of pay = €14.15 per hour

Examples