asked the Minister for Labour if there will be any changes in relation to the allowances paid and other conditions applicable to trainees and those involved in the Teamwork scheme and social employment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Allowances to Trainees.
23.
No changes are envisaged at present in the allowances paid and the other conditions applicable to those involved in the Teamwork scheme and the social employment scheme. The last change in the Teamwork and SES allowances was on 1 April 1987.
As regards trainees, AnCO and CERT trainee allowances were revised with effect from 17 August 1987, on foot of recommendations made by the social guarantee advisory board, which is representative of Manpower and educational authorities, youth interests and the social partners. I also decided to revise accommodation allowances for trainees from 7 September 1987.
The Minister referred to revision and I should like to ask him to confirm that when he mentions revision he means a reduction, that the revision of the Teamwork allowance involved a reduction of £10 per head. Does the Minister regard it as being in any way inconsistent that at a time when there is a proposal on the table to pay an increase to those in the public service every year for the next three years those who are in vulnerable areas, on the margins of society, apparently do not need any increase at all? Does he see any inconsistency in trainees receiving no increase while those who administer the training empire will receive an increase of 2½ per cent per year for three years?
The Deputy will be aware that the reductions he referred to came into operation last April and there were not any reductions since. At the time of the budget in March I succeeded in getting 1,000 extra places on the SES scheme. There was no money available at the time but the cost of the increase in recruitment was partially offset by a reduction in the allowances paid to new participants without dependants from £70 to £60. Participants in receipt of an adult dependant allowance from the Department of Social Welfare prior to the commencement of the SES scheme continued to get the £85 allowance.
Is the Minister saying he believes that the needs of those who are on the Teamwork scheme, or those who are trainees in community workshops, are less than those of the Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Principal Officers and so on in his Department? Is he saying that their needs are less than those who sit in Baggot Street and administer these schemes?
I am not. I would like to be in a position to pay more to recipients of trainee allowances but we are living in difficult economic times. Many of the people concerned are on the maximum unemployment assistance of £38 but the majority are on less because those involved in the Teamwork scheme live at home. The unemployment assistance they are entitled to is small, an average of about £15. When we cut the allowance from £70 to £60 last April we were able to maintain the number on the Teamwork scheme and increase the number on the social employment scheme by 1,000.
One of the claims made by the Minister is that his schemes pay attention to the needs of the low paid and I should like to know, if that is one of his boasts, if he agrees it is unbelievable that those who are in secure employment are to receive increases while those who are paid less than the lowest paid in the public service will not receive any increase and, in fact, have been the victims of cutbacks in the last few months?
I am anxious to dispose of the remaining priority questions within the prescribed time and I am seeking the co-operation of Members to do so.
I should like to make it clear that no persons who were on a course administered by my Department had their allowance reduced. The reduction applied to new entrants and it is unfair of the Deputy to allege that there was a cut in the rate. I ask the Deputy to consider that most of the people were on an allowance of £15 per week and were placed on a training course for which they received £60 per week plus a meal allowance and, where appropriate, a travel allowance. By reducing the amount paid to new entrants I was in a position, in our difficult economic circumstances, to maintain the numbers and, in one area, to increase them.