Jobseeker's Benefit (Self-Employed): a weekly payment if your business closes

What it pays

Your rate depends on your average weekly income in the governing contribution year. That is the second-last complete tax year before you claim. For a claim made in 2026 it is 2024.

There is also a Child Support Payment of €58 a week for a child under 12 and €78 for a child aged 12 or over.

The adult increase depends on what your partner earns. It is paid in full if they earn €100 a week or less, at a reduced rate between €100 and €310, and not at all above €310.

It is paid weekly, into your bank account or at a post office. There are no waiting days.

If you only qualify for a reduced rate, Jobseeker's Allowance may pay more. You can opt for it instead if you pass its means test. Days on it still count against your 6 or 9 months.

Who qualifies

• You are aged 18 or over and under 66.
• You have completely stopped trading as a self-employed person.
• You are capable of work, available for full-time work and genuinely looking for it.
• Your identity has been verified to SAFE Level 2, which is done at an Intreo Centre or Branch Office.
• You meet both PRSI conditions.

The PRSI conditions are:

• In total: at least 156 Class S contributions paid, or at least 104 Class A or H contributions paid, since you first started work.
• In the governing contribution year: 52 Class S contributions paid.

Class S is the PRSI that self-employed people pay. A sole trader who is liable for it in a year is given the full 52 contributions for that year. You can read how Class S PRSI works and what it covers.

From 2026 there is a second route. If you have no Class S contributions in the governing year, contributions from a job in that year can be used instead. You need 39 paid or credited, with 13 of them paid, or 26 paid in that year and 26 in the year before. You must also show that you were in insured self-employment and lost it after that year.

If you are 66 or over and have put off drawing your State pension, you can claim up to age 70, on the paper form only.

Who is refused

• Anyone still trading, even part-time. One day of self-employed work in a week means no payment for that week.
• A self-employed person who is between contracts. The Department still treats them as self-employed.
• A business that has closed temporarily or for the season.
• People whose rental or investment income makes them liable for Class S PRSI, unless it counts as subsidiary. One test for that is making no more than €144 a week from it.
• Full-time students, and people on Community Employment, Tús or the Rural Social Scheme.

If the business is quiet but still open, this is the wrong payment. Citizens Information says you may qualify for Jobseeker's Allowance instead. It is means-tested, and you do not have to close the business to get it.

If you sold the business or left self-employment by choice, you can be disqualified for up to 9 weeks. After a sale, the length depends on the net cash you received once expenses and debts were paid. Between €50,000 and €55,000 it is 1 week. It rises by a week for each further €5,000, up to 9 weeks above €90,000. Those weeks still count against your 6 or 9 months.

Working while you claim

You can work as an employee for up to 3 days a week and still be paid for the other days. One fifth of the weekly rate comes off for each day worked.

Self-employed work is different. If you start any, even part-time, you no longer meet the conditions.

If you want to start a new business, do not start trading on this payment. Ask first about the enterprise allowance that takes over from this benefit, because it has to be approved before you trade. It must be a new enterprise. The guidelines say a business you already had cannot be considered.

Steps towards self-employment do count as looking for work. The guidelines list researching a business idea, preparing a business plan and attending a short course on starting a business.

How to apply, step by step

1. Apply as soon as you stop trading. The Department warns that you could lose some payment if you wait. A late claim can be backdated by up to 6 months only if you show good cause for the delay.
2. If your identity is not yet verified to SAFE Level 2, do that at your Intreo Centre or Branch Office.
3. Fill in form UP1 JBSE from gov.ie. Part 3 asks for the business name and address, what it did, and when and why it stopped. It also asks whether you have completely ceased trading, whether the business is in liquidation, and whether you sold it and for how much.
4. Bring or post the form to your Intreo Centre or Branch Office, with photo ID, proof of address and your most recent notice of assessment if you have one.
5. A Deciding Officer decides the claim and writes to you. You then sign on as directed and keep evidence of your efforts to find work.

How long it lasts, and after

It lasts 9 months (234 days) if you have 260 or more Class S contributions paid, and 6 months (156 days) if you have fewer. Contributions from a job cannot be added in to reach 260.

If you turn 65 while you are on it and have at least 156 paid contributions, it can continue up to your 66th birthday.

To qualify again after using it all, you need 52 more Class S contributions paid since the claim ended, and at least 12 months must have passed.

At the end of 2025, 638 people were getting Jobseeker's Benefit (Self-Employed).

If you are refused, you can appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. The Department says to appeal within 60 days, and that the quickest way is online at MyWelfare.ie.

Common questions

Keep reading

• what a sole trader can get while the business is still open