6.— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 141(4), by substituting the following paragraphs for paragraphs (b) and (c):

“(b) is, or by reason of the person’s participation in an activity prescribed for the purposes of this subsection and subject to any conditions that may be prescribed, is deemed to be, or is exempted from being required to be available for employment,

(c) is genuinely seeking, but is unable to obtain, suitable employment having regard to the person’s age, physique, education, normal occupation, place of residence and family circumstances, and

(d) participates or agrees to participate as the case may be, if requested to do so by an officer of the Minister in a course of education, training or development which is considered appropriate by the officer having regard to the training and education needs of the person and his or her personal circumstances.”,

(b) in section 142(1) (as amended by section 4 and Schedule 1 of the Act of 2006) by substituting “sections 142A, 144 and 146,” for “sections 144 and 146,”, and

(c) by inserting the following section after section 142:

“Rates of assistance — ages 18 and 19 years.

142A.— (1) Notwithstanding section 142(1), in the case of a person who—

(a) has attained the age of 18 years and has not attained the age of 20 years,

(b) is not a person referred to in section 142(1)(a)(ii) (as amended by section 20 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007), and

(c) is not entitled to an increase in respect of a qualified child,

the scheduled rate of jobseeker’s allowance shall be the weekly rate set out in column (2) at reference 1(c) in Part 1 of Schedule 4, (as inserted by section 11(a) of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2009) increased by the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of allowance under this subsection in respect of more than one person.

(2) (a) In the case of a person referred to in subsection (1), and subject to paragraph (b), jobseeker’s allowance shall be payable where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary—

(i) are less than €1, at the scheduled rate,

(ii) are equal to €1, at the scheduled rate reduced by €1, and

(iii) exceed €1, at the scheduled rate, reduced by €1 for each amount (if any) of €1 by which those weekly means exceed €1.

(b) Where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary are equal to or exceed the scheduled rate, no jobseeker’s allowance shall be payable.

(3) Section 144 shall not apply to payments made in accordance with this section.

(4) This section shall not apply in the case of a claim for jobseeker’s allowance where—

(a) the period of interruption of employment commenced on or before 29 April 2009,

(b) a claimant has exhausted, immediately prior to applying for an allowance under this section, his or her entitlement to benefit payable pursuant to section 67,

(c) a claimant was in receipt of disability allowance immediately before he or she makes the claim under this section, or

(d) a claimant has attained the age of 18 years and has not attained the age of 20 years and at any time during the period of 12 months before he or she has so attained the age of 18 years—

(i) he or she was in or was placed in the care of the Executive pursuant to an order of the High Court, or

(ii) he or she was in or was placed in the care of the Executive—

(I) pursuant to an order of the District Court or the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court made under Part III, IV, IVA, (inserted by section 16 of the Children Act 2001) or VI of the Child Care Act 1991,

(II) under a voluntary care arrangement pursuant to section 4 of the Child Care Act 1991, or

(III) under an accommodation arrangement pursuant to section 5 of the Child Care Act 1991.”.