Search
23 Apr 2026
Search
23 Apr 2026
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Dole payments can be cut if recipients don't engage with services designed to help them return to the workforce
Some 262 people on the dole in Donegal last year had their payments reduced or suspended for failing to engage with their social welfare office as it tried to help them rejoin the workforce.
The Donegal Town and Letterkenny social welfare offices accounted for more than 90% of reductions and suspensions in the county, with Dunfanaghy, Dungloe and Buncrana showing low rates.
The data was published by Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes.
The Minister explained that jobseekers who do not engage with the Intreo Employment Service, or who fail to participate in appropriate employment interventions, can have their weekly payments reduced and subsequently may have their payments suspended for up to nine weeks. Furthermore, their entitlement to the jobseekers payment may be reviewed arising from a failure to genuinely seek work.
Once the unemployed person engages with Intreo, the full payment is restored immediately.
“Whether a reduced rate applies, and the duration of its application, is totally within the control of the claimant,” the Minister told Deputy Hayes.
The standard personal rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit is €254 per week, and €163.70 for people aged 18-24 who live at home. The reduced rates for those who do not engage with Intreo are €90 and €50 respectively.
Read more: Donegal live register data for March
In 2025, some 127 people attending the Donegal Town social welfare office had payments reduced or suspended, while 113 were recorded in Letterkenny.
There were 10 reductions or suspensions at the Buncrana office, nine in Dungloe and just three in Dunfanaghy. Dunfanaghy had the lowest incidence recorded at any of the 64 social welfare offices in the State.
With 728 reductions applied throughout 2025, the Waterford City office had the highest figure, followed by Dublin’s Parnell Street (672) and Limerick (608).
Donegal Town (33rd overall) and Letterkenny (36th) were mid-table, while Buncrana, Dungloe and Dunfanaghy were in the bottom 10.
In all, 11,082 people had payments reduced or suspended by the Department in 2025.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
