If you are in receipt of payments from the Department of Social Protection, you can absolutely volunteer – in fact it can be very beneficial to you as a person to get involved in volunteering.

It is true there are some criteria that may apply – and occasionally some volunteers are given mistaken information about volunteering and being unemployed.

People who are in receipt of Jobseeker supports can do certain forms of voluntary work without losing their Unemployment Assistance/Unemployment Benefit and any other entitlements while remaining on the live register. 

However the individual must still meet the conditions for receiving their unemployment benefit:  

• You need to be available for and genuinely seeking employment. The amount of hours you volunteer for is not necessarily a barrier.
• Your volunteer activities need to be voluntary i.e. unpaid.
• You should inform your Deciding Officer in the DEASP that you are volunteering. You will be given a VW1 form to bring to the organisation where  you are volunteering.   This form is not designed to ‘check up on you’ – it is actually about making sure the organisation is an organisation who genuinely involves volunteers for genuine reasons.
• The Deciding Officer decides if you are permitted to volunteer  based on the type of volunteering involved; the aims and standing of the voluntary body; and the weekly hours volunteered. 
• Note: there are no set weekly hours that volunteers are permitted to give while in receipt of social welfare payments.   However, volunteers should be aware that a commitment to full time volunteering may deem you unavailable for work, which may affect your entitlements.