Written Answers Nos. 129-138
129. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the way it has been concluded that a person (details supplied) in County Kildare is deemed to be not genuinely seeking employment in view of the fact that they supplied evidence to the contrary and that they are competing against 450,000 others who are unemployed at this current time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52075/12]
View answerFollowing a review of this case the jobseeker’s benefit claim of the person concerned has been awarded.
130. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress made to date in the determination of an appeal to refuse illness benefit in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 6 who has submitted conclusive medical evidence of their condition and who is clearly not capable of employment for the foreseeable future; if basic payment is being issued in the interim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52076/12]
View answerThe claim for illness benefit, by the person concerned, was disallowed by a Deciding Officer of the Department following an examination by a Medical Assessor who expressed the opinion that he was capable of work.
I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an appeal was opened on 13th November 2012 and in accordance with statutory requirements the Department was asked for the documentation in the case and the Deciding Officer’s comments on the grounds of the appeal. In that context, an examination by another Medical Assessor will be carried out. The person concerned will be notified when arrangements for the examination have been completed.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
131. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if and when carer's allowance will be paid in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52077/12]
View answerThere is no record of a carer’s allowance application ever being received for the person in question.
132. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection the success rate on the pathways to works scheme since its establishment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52096/12]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, I launched the first INTREO office of the new employment and entitlements service of the Department, with An Taoiseach on 15 October 2012 in Sligo. INTREO is the integrated employment activation and supports service model that this Government promised to deliver in the Programme for Government and in ‘Pathways to Work’.
INTREO is the name for the new service model of the Department integrating the employment services and community programmes formerly of FÁS, and the Community Welfare Services (CWS) formerly of the HSE and the income support services provided by the Department itself.
The integration of functions and the transformation of the way the Department delivers its services were always envisaged as a multi-annual and iterative process of transformation.
Building upon the skills and processes in the enlarged Department, a new activation concept, the one-stop-shop has been developed and has been rolled out in four pilot offices, Sligo, King’s Inns Parnell Street, Arklow and Tallaght.
Service performance has improved in all of the offices mentioned. For example, claim processing time has reduced from up to 4 weeks to under 1 week. Waiting times for new claimants for group interviews and follow up one-to-one interviews are now also under one week.
Other offices in Ballymun, Kilkenny, Buncrana, Coolock, Finglas and Dundalk will go live before the end of the year. INTREO will be then be rolled out to all the Department’s offices nationwide by the end of 2014, in a programme that is being carefully managed in a live operating environment.
INTREO’s one-stop-shop offices includes a single integrated decision-making team that integrates and streamlines the processes formerly undertaken by the different agencies now amalgamated into the Department. Already clients are seeing the benefits of the integrated decisions process in terms of shorter decision times and in the reduced recourse to supplementary payments in offices where integrated decisions are in operation.
On being awarded a claim, the client will also be asked to sign a ‘social contract’ with the Department. The client acknowledges their responsibility to work to secure employment at the earliest possible opportunity, on the understanding that failure to adhere to those undertakings may result in the reduction or withdrawal of income support payments.
The most significant demands of the Pathways approach are:
i) profiles of clients to inform the approach taken to activation
ii) Early engagement with clients through group engagement sessions
iii) One to one interviews with case managers
Progress under each of these headings is as follows:
(a) The Profiling of all new claimants has been operating in the four pilot one-stop shop locations and is now also operating in all other DSP offices. The roll-out programme has been completed ahead of the December 2012 target.
With regard to the engagement/activation process generally:
(b) The Department targeted to involve 30,000 clients in group engagements in 2012 and has had 48,500 clients involved in group engagements by the end of September.
(c) The Department committed to holding 97,500 initial one-to-one guidance interviews with clients by the end of September 2012 but almost 123,000 had been held by that date. That figure doesn’t include the 109,000 follow-up meetings held by the end of September.
INTREO is also refocusing the Department’s relationship with employers. The level of contact with employers at national and local level is already increasing. For example, Springboard Recruitment fairs were held in conjunction with HEA in Dublin, Galway and Cork during September and a series of seven employer briefings were held over October and November.
The launch of INTREO marks a watershed in the way the Department responds to the needs of today’s Ireland. INTREO puts the flesh on the Government’s policy initiatives to put Ireland back to work.
133. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if illness benefit will be paid in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow; and if she will expedited a reply or early payment. [52116/12]
View answerPayment of illness benefit, to the person concerned, was disallowed by a Deciding Officer of the Department following an examination by a Medical Assessor who expressed the opinion that she was capable of work. An appeal was opened and in the context of that appeal her case was reviewed by a second Medical Assessor who also expressed the opinion that she was capable of work.
I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that, following receipt of the grounds of appeal from the person concerned, the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer have been sought. On receipt of its response the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
134. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide an update on his plans and preparations for World War One centenary commemorations; if the plans will involve honouring the memory of all Irish regiments who were active in the war; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51943/12]
View answerThe commemorative arrangements for the Decade of Centenaries will address the political, cultural, economic and social history of Ireland in the period 1912-1922. The experience of the World War in Ireland and of the Irish soldiers at the battlefront will be a substantial part of the commemorative programme.
The annual arrangements for the commemoration of the World War will be complemented by a special initiative each year in the anniversary years in 2014-2018. The special arrangements for the centenaries of the events in the First World War with special significance for Ireland are currently under consideration.
The official arrangements will include ceremonial commemorations, presentations by national cultural institutions and the issue of commemorative postal stamps. These events will be complemented by the initiatives of universities, ex-service organisations and regimental and military history groups throughout Ireland.
The Irish experience in the World War will also feature prominently in other national commemorative programmes – particularly the British and Belgian programmes - and in the programme of international events currently being developed.
135. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the value the State places on an acre of raised bog, which is not under a special area of conservation, the rate his Department will pay to purchase an acre of raised bog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51949/12]
View answerIn the context of the relocation of turf cutters to non-designated bogs, under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme, my Department is prepared to consider the purchase or long-term lease of suitable sites for turf extraction. It is not possible to place a set figure on the amount my Department would pay, as a variety of factors would need to be taken into consideration.
My Department administers the voluntary bog purchase scheme under which individuals have applied to sell their interest in sites designated as raised bog special areas of conservation or natural heritage areas at agreed rates. While this scheme has been closed to new applicants since May 2010, the current purchase rates are as follows:
- Freehold : €3,500 for the first acre or part thereof and €3,000 for each subsequent acre.
- Turbary Rights Only : €2,975 for the first acre, or part thereof, and €2,550 for each subsequent acre.
- Fee Simple with Turbary Rights reserved to Third Party : €525 for the first acre and €450 for each subsequent acre.
136. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to the oil find off the County Kerry coast, if he will ensure that this find will benefit County Kerry; and the assurance he can give that it will benefit the people of Kerry. [51976/12]
View answerI assume the Deputy is referring to recent media reports relating to Licensing Options 11/04 and 11/06 awarded to Petrel Resources Plc following last year’s Atlantic Margin Licensing Round. The two licensing options are located in the Porcupine Basin off the County Kerry coast.
Both licensing options are preliminary authorisations and are designed to allow the company to assess the hydrocarbon potential of the acreage, largely based on desktop studies of existing seismic and well data. By the end of the period of each licensing option in October 2013 the company must either apply for a Frontier Exploration Licence or surrender the acreage.
At this stage of the licensing options, it is too early to know whether or not these authorisations will proceed to the exploration licence stage let alone to anticipate a commercial discovery that would potentially lead to a petroleum production project and the related benefits to Ireland and the local economy generally.
137. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when he expects the Exchequer to receive the moneys raised by the recent multi-band spectrum auction; the amount that he anticipates will be paid up-front; the amount he expects will be paid in instalments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52006/12]
View answer141. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will report on the recent sale by ComReg of 4G spectrum auction haul the terms of agreement with the winning bidders in terms of payment schedules and length of the licensing agreement; his views on the way in which the outcome of the auction compares with similar auctions in other EU and OECD states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52022/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 137 and 141 together.
As the Deputy will be aware the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) recently announced the winning bidders of its Multi-band Spectrum Auction for the 800, 900 and 1800 MHz bands. The winning bidders will pay €854.64 million for these spectrum rights, comprising firstly of Upfront Fees amounting to €481.7 million (adjusted as necessary by transitional arrangements) and secondly, Annual Spectrum Usage Fees in the amount of €372.95 million which will be adjusted for inflation and paid in instalments until July 2030. The duration of the licences is to 2030. It is my understanding that slightly over 50% of the fees (approximately €450M) will be made available to the Exchequer this year. Details of Upfront Fees and Spectrum Usage Fees for the duration of licences can be found in Section 2.2.5 of ComReg’s Information Memorandum 12/52, which is available on the ComReg website, www.comreg.ie.
In addition to a strong return for the Exchequer, the allocation of Spectrum under auction will provide for the rollout of faster, fourth generation 4G mobile Internet services which will maintain and boost Ireland’s competitiveness. This is a key component of the Government's National Broadband Plan which envisages high speed broadband services being rolled out across Ireland in the lifetime of this Government.
ComReg has advised that the overall revenue raised compares favourably with prices observed recently in other comparable European auctions, although it is difficult to provide comparisons given the manner in which blocks of spectrum were packaged in the ComReg auction and variations between Member States in how spectrum is allocated, population size and other factors.
138. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in the event that a company (details supplied) or any other such company found oil in Dublin Bay, if the State will own that oil or a percentage thereof; if royalties will be paid to the Irish State; if the State will have a share in production of that oil; and if the company will be obligated to supply some oil to Ireland at a discounted rate to provide the State with security of energy supply. [52019/12]
View answerIreland encourages exploration companies to invest in exploration for oil and gas in the Irish offshore on the basis that the exploration companies carry the full cost associated with that exploration. Then in the event of a commercial discovery being made, the oil or gas discovered would be demised to the licensees under a petroleum lease. While the State would benefit in a number of ways, the principal financial benefit would result from the special higher rate of corporation tax that applies to profits from production of oil or gas. A tax on profits of between 25% and 40% would apply in the case mentioned by the Deputy, in the event that the proposed drilling resulted in a commercial discovery.
While a commercial discovery would be very positive news for Ireland, the reality is that unless there is a substantial increase in the level of drilling activity in the Irish offshore, the true potential of our natural resources will continue to be unknown.
Taxation, royalty payments and production sharing are all instruments that can be used by a country to extract a value from production of its oil and gas resources. While these various instruments will impact in somewhat different ways, the key issue is to decide on the overall level of “State take” to aim for. In setting that level a country has to strike a balance between seeking to attract mobile international exploration investment and seeking to maximise the return to the State from successful exploration. Since the 1980s Ireland has taken a tax based approach, following the example of neighbouring countries such as the UK and Norway. Royalty payments or production sharing would not apply to any new commercial discovery made in the Irish offshore.
In relation to the specific issue of security of oil supply, Ireland is required under EU and IEA obligations to hold 90 days of oil reserves. The bulk of Ireland’s oil stocks are held by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA), with the balance held by industry.
