Higher earners would get higher welfare payments if they lost their job under plans going to Cabinet this week. The proposals being put forward by Cavan Monaghan Minister, Heather Humphreys, would see a maximum payment of €450 per week - more than double the current rate.
Jobseekers payments would be linked to how long people had been paying PRSI. Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys says it's about making sure people who lose their jobs can afford to pay the bills while they find another.
"So what I am trying to do here is to ensure that your benefit - when you are made redundant - will be commensurate with what you have paid in. We know that a lot of people have paid over a lot of years in to the social insurance fund.
'Then when they become employed they suddenly face a cliff drop in their income - it really is a cliff because it drops down very quickly. And, I want to ease that for them," she added.
