Written Answers Nos. 135-141
135. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of her proposals to put long-term jobless persons to work in local county councils; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3420/13]
View answer156. Deputy Paul J. Connaughton asked the Minister for Social Protection if any new employment scheme involving local authorities has been made available; if so when will it be rolled out in County Galway and if persons on disability allowance may take part; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3444/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 135 and 156 together.
The Government, as part of the Budget package for 2013 announced a number of initiatives focused on providing work opportunities for those currently unemployed. The key elements of this package are to add an additional 2,500 places to JobBridge; 2,000 places on community employment; 2,500 to Tús – the community work placement initiative - and the development of a new initiative with local authorities to provide 3,000 opportunities in 2013. This is in line with the commitments set out in the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work. I have made announcements in recent days with respect to the roll-out of new community employment placements and I hope to announce the allocation of additional placements on Tús in the coming days once the necessary consultation with local development companies has been completed.
The design of the local authority initiative and the nature of work to be undertaken will require consultation with a range of stakeholders, including those bodies responsible for the delivery of other schemes funded by the Department of Social Protection. Development work on this new initiative has commenced with the local authorities. The method of allocating places, which is likely to be based on the geographic distribution of those persons meeting the criteria for the initiative, and the timetables for the development of pilots to inform the design of the scheme and the roll-out of the full initiative have yet to be agreed.
136. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 502 of 16 January 2013, the applicant failed to give a true and accurate account of their circumstances in respect of their application for jobseeker's allowance in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3150/13]
View answerA Deciding Officer contended that the person concerned had not shown that her means were less than the statutory limit as she had failed to give a true and accurate account of her circumstances. The decision was appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. The person concerned stated her case at the hearing. The Deciding Officer’s decision was upheld on appeal.
137. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding rent supplement in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3165/13]
View answerThe person concerned is now in receipt of his maximum entitlement to rent supplement. His claim was previously suspended by the client’s local office due to information not provided in relation to a rent review. All information has now been supplied and the entitlement has been reinstated. An Exceptional Needs Payment has issued directly to the client's landlord for all outstanding rent arrears.
138. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of numbers of persons who applied for invalidity pension; the numbers of those who were refused and those who were granted in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012; of those who were refused, the numbers who appealed the decision and the numbers who were successful and unsuccessful in those appeals. [3166/13]
View answerTable 1
|
INVALIDITY PENSION CLAIMS |
||||
|
Year |
Received |
Awarded |
Disallowed |
Total decided |
|
2009 |
7475 |
4580 |
2933 |
7513 |
|
2010 |
8774 |
3445* |
3411* |
7614 |
|
2011 |
14621 |
2107# |
4697# |
12829 |
|
2012 |
11510 |
6352 |
11423 |
17775 |
|
A breakdown of Invalidity claims awarded and disallowed is not available from December 2010-June 2011. A dual payments system was in operation from December 2010 until all claims were migrated onto a new computer platform in May 2011. |
||||
Table 2
Invalidity Pension Appeals – 2009 -2012
|
Year |
Opening Balance |
Appeals Lodged |
Revised Deciding Officer Decision(*) |
Total Decided by Appeals Office |
Appeals Allowed |
Appeals Partly Allowed |
Appeals Disallowed |
Appeals Withdrawn |
Closing Balance |
|
2009 |
310 |
642 |
82 |
403 |
243 |
1 |
136 |
23 |
467 |
|
2010 |
467 |
1,024 |
185 |
694 |
341 |
6 |
314 |
33 |
612 |
|
2011 |
612 |
2,285 |
345 |
970 |
408 |
6 |
489 |
67 |
1,582 |
|
2012 |
1,582 |
4,765 |
474 |
1,517 |
1,031 |
4 |
430 |
52 |
4,356 |
(*) Where a person has received a decision to disallow a payment, it is open to them to ask for a review by a deciding officer. These figures reflect those cases where a disallowed claim was revised on review by a deciding officer prior to determination by an Appeals Officer. Generally these cases arise where a person submits additional information, not already considered, in support of their claim following a decision to disallow.
139. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason an application for farm assist was refused in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3168/13]
View answerThe farm assist application, by the person concerned, was disallowed by a Deciding Officer of the Department on the grounds that his means are in excess of the statutory limit and is not engaged in husbandry.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that, following receipt of the relevant Departmental papers including the comments of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal, the case was referred to an Appeals Officer for consideration. The Appeals Officer has referred the case back to the Deciding Officer for clarification on certain matters. On receipt of her response, the appeal will be further considered by the Appeals Officer.
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.
140. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of the farm assist programme; the persons who are eligible for this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3169/13]
View answerSupport for farmers on low incomes is available through the farm assist scheme. At the end of last year there were 11,785 recipients on the scheme at a cost of €115 million. This means-tested payment is similar to the jobseeker’s allowance scheme, on which it is based. The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to replace ‘Smallholders Unemployment Assistance’ for low income farmers, without the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking work.
In Budget 2013 two measures were announced, for implementation in April 2013, which will bring the farm assist scheme into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s treatment of self-employed persons by: a) Increasing the amount of means from self-employment, which is assessed against the claimant from 85% to 100%; and b) Discontinuing the means testing disregards for child dependents of claimants.
A person may qualify for farm assist if they are a farmer aged between 18 and 66, and they satisfy a means test. A person is considered a farmer if they farm land that they own or lease and use for the purpose of husbandry. Husbandry means working the land with the object of taking produce from the land.
If a person farms land for the purpose of husbandry but does not own or lease that land, then they may still qualify as a farmer as long as the land is not part of a larger holding. The land, which includes commonage, must be within the State. A person will not qualify for farm assist if they lease or let all their land to another person.
141. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are any circumstances in which a young person wanting to undertake a JobBridge internship will be considered without having the three month period on a qualifying payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3172/13]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that I have made Youth Unemployment a particular priority during Ireland’s EU Presidency. JobBridge is one of the key measures taken by the Department to address the problem of Youth Unemployment.
The JobBridge Scheme has made significant progress since it came into operation on the 1st July 2011. 13,770 internships have commenced to date with 5,548 participants currently on an internship as at 17th January 2013 with 1,900 internship opportunities advertised on www.jobbridge.ie as of that date. 25% of participants as of 17 January 2103 were aged between 20 and 24 years and a further 43% of participants were aged between 25 and 34 years.
At present one of the main qualifying conditions is that participants must have been in receipt of a qualifying payment for at least three months before they begin their internship. The purpose of this condition is to try to ensure that the JobBridge scheme supports those who are most in need of assistance in securing employment. At present 42% of those joining the live register exit within three months of registration. Given that very many people secure normal, open-market employment unaided during this initial three month period I would be concerned that reducing the JobBridge eligibility period could have an adverse and costly impact on the efficient functioning of the labour market, to the detriment of individual jobseekers. I would also be concerned that it would be wasteful of scarce exchequer resources to make the JobBridge scheme available in an indiscriminate manner during this initial three month period.
The recent interim evaluation report conducted by Indecon found that 67% of JobBridge participants had been unemployed for over six months and that 38% of this sub-group had been unemployed for over a year prior to commencing their JobBridge internship. Given that the long-term unemployed have particular difficulties in securing employment it is important that the scheme serves this client group first and foremost, and this will continue to be the focus of the JobBridge scheme for the foreseeable future. I will however keep the situation under review.
