asked the Minister for Labour if the £4 minimum increase provided for in the agreement on pay in the public service will be paid to persons on Teamwork and Social Employment Schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment Programmes Allowances.
5.
The agreement on pay does not cover allowances or grants in respect of allowances paid under employment programmes.
As I said in my reply to similar questions on allowances on 4 February last, I have no proposals to increase these grants at present.
Does the Minister consider it would be advisable to ensure that payments under the Teamwork and social employment schemes are rendered attractive to prospective participants? Furthermore, would he agree that, in view of the increases granted in social welfare, the gap has been closed somewhat between what is being paid under the Teamwork and social employment schemes and the amount one would receive on unemployment benefit or assistance? Would he agree that, for that reason alone, it would be worthwhile to carry out a review of what is being paid and have an increase applied?
As the Deputy says, there was a substantial increase granted in the long-term unemployment allowance. The position is that unemployment assistance, from this summer onwards, will amount to £42 and the amount payable under the social employment scheme will remain £60. However, the difficulty arises in that there are still a large number of applicants which means that, if one increases the amount payable, then the number of beneficiaries will decrease correspondingly. At a recent meeting with the trade union movement when there were discussions on a number of issues in regard to the social employment scheme, I undertook — in the context of the Estimates for this year — to review the level of payments under the schemes. The point at issue here is that probably it would be better were these schemes linked in some way. I have given an undertaking to investigate the budgetary system overall rather than considering them individually. In the course of any one year it is impossible to bring them back into line or maintain the same differential between what might have been granted in a budget in, say, January and what I might have forecast in the course of a budgetary exercise in, say, June or July last. It is not possible to do that.
I want to ask the Minister a question in relation to the gap between the £42 received by people on unemployment assistance and the £60 payable to people who participate in the Teamwork scheme or social employment scheme. Would the Minister accept that, when PRSI contributions and daily travelling expenses are deducted from the £60 there is then very little difference between what one might receive on unemployment assistance and one's earnings by way of participation in one of these schemes?
I accept that with the very large increase granted in the budget to unemployment assistance the differential has narrowed. However, it must be remembered also that, under the provisions of the social employment scheme, an individual can work the remaining two and a half days, or can be involved for the remaining two and a half days, which would not affect their earnings under the scheme. I might add that a large number do so in one form or another.