The Government has introduced a number of changes to the social welfare system to assist people – including the self-employed and farmers – who are not working because they need to self-isolate or they have been diagnosed with coronavirus (Covid-19).
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine confirmed to AgriLand that farmers are eligible to apply for the payments outlined below, provided they meet the necessary criteria for the individual scheme/payment.
Illness Benefit
Among these changes is a higher rate of illness benefit, which can be paid if a person is told to self-isolate by by a doctor and has been diagnosed with coronavirus (Covid-19).
In this case, the individual concerned can receive €305 per week, as opposed to the normal rate of Illness Benefit of €203 per week.
To be eligible for this higher rate of payment, a person must be confined to their home or a medical facility. Also, you must be self-isolating on the instructions of a doctor and absent from work without getting paid.
If you have been told to self-isolate and/or you have been diagnosed with Covid-19, your doctor will write up a medical certificate for the Department of Social Protection on your behalf, with you providing your doctor with your name, PPS number and date of birth.
Then you must complete an application form for Illness Benefit (Form IB 1).
The three ways to fill this form out are as follows:
- You can call: 1890 800024; or: 01 2481398, between 9:00am and 5:00pm Monday to Friday to get an application form by post;
- You can organise someone to pick up a form at your doctor’s surgery or at your local Intreo Centre;
- An online application process will be available by the end of March.
Both the medical certificate and the application form are then sent to: PO Box 1650, Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Dublin 1.
Supplementary Welfare Allowance
The rules for Supplementary Welfare Allowance have also been changed. People who are sick or self-isolating can apply for either Illness Benefit or Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
Those people who are not sick or self-isolating themselves, but who are caring for others who may be sick or self-isolating, may also be able to apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
Supplementary Welfare Allowance pays €201 for someone over the age of 25 who is living independently.
This payment is usually means-tested, but where there is a medically certified case of diagnosis of Covid-19, or a doctor’s instruction to self-isolate, the means-test can be waived.
Learn more about Supplementary Welfare Allowance here.
Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment
A new payment has been introduced for the employed or self-employed who have no work as a result of a downturn of activity in their sector of the economy due to coronavirus.
The payment has a simple one–page application form and will be paid for a period of 6 weeks at a flat rate payment of €203 per week.
It is designed to quickly deliver a social welfare payment to the unemployed and provide income security during this six-week period.
During that six-week period the person will be required to complete and return a full jobseeker’s form.
For more information on this payment, including how to apply, click here.