Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 January 2012
40 Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of children that will lose €29.80 each week as a consequence of her decision to cut qualified child increases paid to one parent family payment claimants participating in community employment and if she will reverse this cut in view of the negative impact it will have on child poverty amongst this group. [4344/12]
View answerThe net reduction in combined income to a person currently on CE and in receipt of One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is as follows:
|
Number of Children |
Amount |
|
1 child |
€22.30 per week |
|
2 children |
€37.10 per week |
|
3 children |
€51.90 per week |
|
4 children |
€66.70 per week |
|
5 children |
€81.50 per week |
|
6 children |
€97.30 per week |
The reason the difference is less than the basic €29.80 child dependant rate is due to the retained OFP being reassessed upwards due to less Community Employment (CE) income being means-assessed against it. The reduced €130 income disregard has also been taken into account in these calculations. The above only applies to current CE participants in receipt of OFP.
The number of children affected by the changes is 8,042 in total for OFP recipients. New participants on CE will receive the CE equivalent of their current OFP rate plus the €20 CE participation bonus, in line with the Social Welfare Act, 2011. Given the exigency of the current budgetary situation facing my Department, I cannot reinstate the budgets to 2011 levels.
42 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason she did not conduct a review of community employment schemes prior to her decision to cut the training and materials budgets by two thirds; and if she will reinstate the budgets at 2011 levels. [4339/12]
View answerUnder the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure in 2011 undertaken by my Department last year, the effectiveness and value for money of spending programmes was reviewed. The option to reduce the training and materials grants was included in this review. Following on from these changes, I have directed that a review of the financial resources of each individual scheme take place. This will be completed by in March 2012. The review is also being carried out in the context that there are community and voluntary sponsoring organisations that receive funding from a multiplicity of state agencies and it may be possible to achieve savings. The review will also seek to establish if income is generated by scheme activity and the potential for utilisation of these funds to cover project costs.
The outcomes of this review will provide a clear picture of the core funding required for each scheme. This will assist my Department in ensuring a fair distribution of the funding available for these schemes. I have given assurances to community and voluntary organisations that no Community Employment Scheme will close pending the completion of this review. Given the exigency of the current budgetary situation facing my Department, I cannot reinstate the budgets to 2011 levels.
