Vol. 458 No. 2
14 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to extend social welfare assistance under the back-to-work allowance scheme for a further 12 months to enable people to consolidate themselves in employment. [16779/95]
49 Mr. Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if persons in receipt of disability benefit, invalidity pension and disabled persons maintenance allowance are currently entitled to avail of the back-to-work allowance scheme or the part-time job incentive scheme; and, if not, the plans, if any, he has to allow such persons to avail of these schemes. [16761/95]
59 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to extend social welfare assistance under the back-to-work allowance scheme for a further 12 months to enable people to consolidate themselves in employment. [16780/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 14, 49 and 59 together.
The back to work allowance was introduced in September 1993 as an integral part of my Department's programme of initiatives designed to encourage the long-term unemployed to return to the active labour force and has proved a significant success. To date 9,500 people who were previously long-term unemployed or lone parents have returned to real jobs in the private sector. Approximately 5,900 of these are engaged in a variety of self-employment enterprises while the remainder are working as employees. The average weekly payment being made under the scheme is £60, which does not attract income tax or PRSI.
I am very pleased with the success to date of this scheme. It has proved very attractive to the long-term unemployed and has encouraged the creation of new job opportunities in the services and indigenous industries sectors. In particular it has demonstrated that there is a wide range of ideas and talents among the unemployed and this is especially evident in the number of new enterprises set up under the scheme.
The scheme was set up as a specific incentive aimed at the long-term unemployed and there are no proposals at present to extend access to the scheme to categories of people who have not declared themselves available for work. The long-term unemployed will remain the primary focus for the scheme. I should mention, however, that I recently concluded an agreement with the National Rehabilitation Board on behalf of recipients of disability benefit and invalidity pension. Under this agreement my Department will consider granting exemption from the rules of behaviour to facilitate such persons to undertake appropriate FÁS Community Employment placements; part-time employment for rehabilitation or occupational therapy purposes with no income limit; certain training courses and education courses including those at second and third level.
With regard to extending the duration of the scheme for a further 12 months, one of the improvements which I introduced as part of this year's budget was to extend payment of the allowance for a third year at a weekly rate of 25 per cent. I am satisfied that this extension will act as a further important support to enable participants to consolidate themselves in employment or self-employment.
An independent evaluation of the scheme was commissioned earlier this year and an interim report has just been made available to me. Preliminary conclusions show that the scheme is proving to be a significant incentive to the long-term unemployed particularly and is having a more effective impact than previous labour market programmes. This interim report is currently being examined in my Department.
All the participants on the scheme are still receiving financial support from my Department at either the 75 per cent, 50 per cent or 25 per cent rates of payment and they also retain entitlement to certain other secondary benefits throughout this period.
In the light of experience to date, a number of ancilliary supports have been introduced, particularly for those who took up self-employment. These include access to small loans, business advice and relevant training where these are not available from other sources. The purpose of these supports is to maximise the likelihood of the long-term survival of these small enterprises. It is my intention to consider further modifications to the back-to-work allowance in the light of the findings of the independent evaluation to which I already referred.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I take it that the Minister will extend that scheme for a further 12 months.
The scheme is operating and, as I indicated, will continue to operate. Under current procedure participants can retain their social welfare benefit at a rate of 75 per cent for the first year, 50 per cent for the second year and 25 per cent for the third year. If participants are living in a partnership area, for the first year they can avail of an area allowance equivalent to 100 per cent retention of their social welfare benefit. At the end of the first year such participants may transfer to the back-to-work allowance scheme which enables them to retain 75 per cent, 50 per cent or 25 per cent of their social welfare benefit. Effectively, a four year scheme is available to unemployed people in partnership areas, 100 per cent retention of benefit in the first year tapering to 25 per cent in the fourth year. That scheme is working extremely well.
The Minister mentioned that some participants were self-employed, will he indicate the number in that category?
Statistics indicate that 5,900 are in self-employment approximately 60 per cent of the total.
