Written Answers Nos. 343-363
343. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of exceptions that may be made for the qualifying criteria for the fuel allowance scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50301/13]
View answerSome 410,000 customers will receive the fuel allowance of €20 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, at a cost of €223 million. The fuel allowance is paid to those in receipt of long-term jobseekers, one-parent family payment, disability allowance, invalidity pension and some people in receipt of the State pension. The allowance is subject to a means test and is paid only to those who live alone or with certain exempted people. These exempted people include; qualified adults, qualified children, people who have an entitlement to the allowance in their own right, the carer of the fuel allowance applicant or people in receipt of short-term jobseeker’s allowance. Full details on the criteria for the scheme are available on the Department’s website www.welfare.ie.
Deciding officers have no discretion to set aside the published qualifying criteria. All social welfare schemes, including the fuel allowance, are operated on the basis of publically available guidelines, which ensure fairness and consistency in determining eligibility.
344. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person currently on jobseeker's allowance, and who meets all the qualifying criteria for a place on the community employment scheme, commences on the scheme and then subsequently receives a lump sum and no longer meets the criteria for jobseeker's allowance, will be allowed to remain on the community employment scheme for the duration of the place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50308/13]
View answerOnce a person has been deemed eligible to participate and commences on the Community Employment (CE) programme they remain on CE for the duration of their annual contract. They may also be retained for further time on CE if their CE Supervisor and the DSP officer agree to the extension of participation.
345. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons under 25 years of age in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for less than six months; for more than six months and less than 12 months; for more than 12 months and less than 24 months; those in receipt of this payment for more than 24 months and less than 36 months; those in receipt for more than 36 months and less than 48 months and those in receipt for more than 48 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50317/13]
View answer346. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons aged 25 years in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for less than six months; for more than six months and less than 12 months; for more than 12 months and less than 24 months; those in receipt of this payment for more than 24 months and less than 36 months; those in receipt for more than 36 months and less than 48 months and those in receipt for more than 48 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50319/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 345 and 346 together.
The number of persons aged 25 and under in receipt of jobseeker's allowance at the end of October 2013 was 58,820. A breakdown of the number of recipients by age and duration is contained in the attached tabular statement.
Number of Recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance 25 and under by Duration
|
Age |
Less than 6mths |
6-12mths |
1-2yrs |
2-3yrs |
3-4years |
Greater than 4years |
Total |
|
18 |
2,688 |
1,133 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3,821 |
|
19 |
2,287 |
1,569 |
1,949 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5,805 |
|
20 |
2,169 |
1,395 |
1,916 |
1,307 |
0 |
0 |
6,787 |
|
21 |
2,035 |
1,286 |
1,622 |
1,140 |
890 |
0 |
6,973 |
|
22 |
2,383 |
1,372 |
1,610 |
1,118 |
822 |
914 |
8,219 |
|
23 |
2,165 |
1,270 |
1,804 |
1,088 |
868 |
1,857 |
9,052 |
|
24 |
1,860 |
1,257 |
1,700 |
1,059 |
778 |
2,240 |
8,894 |
|
25 |
2,104 |
1,370 |
1,562 |
1,109 |
897 |
2,227 |
9,269 |
|
Total |
17,691 |
10,652 |
12,163 |
6,821 |
4,255 |
7,238 |
58,820 |
347. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of the 22 local employment services funded by her Department; the location of each; the funding provided to each in 2013; the number of jobseekers engaging in each LES in 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50321/13]
View answerThe Local Employment Service (LES) delivers employment services through a network of local contact points and/or outreach services. The LES provide services for both jobseekers who are referred through the department’s activation processes and jobseekers identified as being most distant from the labour market e.g. people who have a disability, ex-offenders, etc.
In 2011 the LES had 32,660 clients on their caseload on 1 January and registered 46,357 new clients during the year. In 2012 the LES had 35,450 clients on their caseload on 1 January and registered 48,640 new clients during the year. In 2013 the LES had 32,387 clients on their caseload on 1 January and registered 53,141 new clients up to the end of October.
The total budget for the LES in 2013 is €19.1m. As the Department may shortly be tendering for providers to augment the capacity of LES, I do not intend to publish figures or the payments made to individual LES contractors at this time. Details of the 22 local development/community companies that were contracted to deliver the service in 2013 are set out in the tabular statement hereunder.
|
LES CONTRACTOR |
LOCATION |
|
Northside Partnership |
Northside (Dublin) |
|
Ballymun/Whitehall Area Partnership |
Ballymun |
|
Tolka Area Partnership |
Tolka Area (Dublin) |
|
- |
Dublin Inner City |
|
Bluebell, Inchicore, Islandbridge, Kilmainham & Rialto Co Ltd |
Canals (Dublin) |
|
Rathmines Pembroke Community Partnership Ltd |
Dublin 12 |
|
Blanchardstown Area Partnership |
Blanchardstown |
|
Ballyfermot Chapelizod Partnership Co Ltd |
Ballyfermot |
|
- |
Clondalkin |
|
South Dublin County Ltd (SDC) |
Tallaght |
|
Southside Partnership |
Southside (Dublin) |
|
Monaghan Integrated Development |
Monaghan |
|
Louth Leader Partnership |
Louth Leader |
|
Co Kildare Local Employment Service Network |
Kildare |
|
Bray Area Partnership |
Bray |
|
Mayo North East LEADER Partnership Co Teoranta |
Mayo |
|
Galway City Partnership |
Galway |
|
People Action Against Unemployment Ltd (PAUL) |
Limerick |
|
Cork City Partnership Ltd |
Cork |
|
South Kerry Development Partnership |
Sth Kerry |
|
North & East Kerry Leader Partnership Teo |
Nth & East Kerry |
|
Waterford Area Partnership |
Waterford City |
|
Waterford Leader Partnership Ltd |
Waterford County |
|
Wexford Local Development |
Wexford |
348. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the budget allocated in 2014 to implement the Your First EURES Job scheme announced on 14 October 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50322/13]
View answer“Your first EURES job” is an existing EU job mobility scheme specifically targeted to help young people find work and to help employers find workers. It aims to match young jobseekers and job changers to fill vacancies across Europe. “Your First EURES Job” is one of the existing initiatives that may be utilised in implementing the Youth Guarantee in Ireland in 2014. Young people who avail of this opportunity will do so on a completely voluntary basis. The estimated total budget for this initiative will be in the order of €2.5m.
349. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of employment services officers/advisers currently employed by her Department to assist jobseekers; her plans to increase the number of employment/career advisers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50323/13]
View answer350. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of employment services officers/advisors who will be assigned to implement the youth guarantee, in particular to ensure each young jobseeker gets a personalised needs assessment and employment plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50324/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 349 and 350 together.
There are currently approximately 300 employment service officers/advisors. A further 300 staff are being re-assigned to these roles. The first 160 staff to be redeployed have been identified and notified of their re-assignments and training has commenced. The remaining 140 staff to be re-deployed have been identified and are in the process of being notified. Although plans for interacting with unemployed young people under the youth guarantee are not yet finalised, it is likely that all of the officers will be dealing with the implementation of the youth guarantee although none will be doing so exclusively.
351. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons under 25 years who have undertaken the Intreo registration and profile questionnaire process since the introduction of Pathways to Work in 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50325/13]
View answer352. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons under 25 years who were in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or benefit for one year or more who have undertaken the Intreo registration and profile questionnaire process since the introduction of Pathways to Work in 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50326/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 351 and 352 together.
To facilitate early and targeted interventions, the initial priority within Intreo and other offices in the Department has been to profile customers, including young persons under 25 years of age, as they join the Live Register. The number of young persons currently under 25 years of age, who have been profiled up to 10 November 2013, is 36,155.
354. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection if the European Commission Memo 13/984 of 12 November 2013 which indicates that Ireland has been given a provisional allocation of €63.66 million from the €3 billion youth employment initiative will be increased; the efforts that are being made by her Department to increase this allocation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50328/13]
View answerNegotiations on the regulations for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), and for the European Social Fund more generally, are almost concluded. The Government has sought to maximise the possible benefits to Ireland in these negotiations. It has now been indicated, provisionally, that Ireland will be allocated funding of €63.66 million (at 2011 prices; €68.15 million at current prices) from the YEI in respect of the two-year period 2014-2015. This will need to be matched by at least the same amount of ESF funding.
Given the way the funding is structured, in order to recoup these amounts from the YEI/ESF in due course, it will be necessary for Ireland, in the first instance, to incur eligible expenditure on youth employment initiatives of approximately €200 million over this two-year period, and to apply subsequently for recoupment from the EU. It is expected that actual expenditure by Ireland on youth employment initiatives will be substantially in excess of this €200 million minimum. The first EU refunds would become available during 2015 at the earliest, based on our actual spend in 2014.
Allocations from the YEI for 2014 and 2015 are based on agreed criteria. Ireland’s allocation is based on the average number of young people unemployed here in 2012, and the proportion this represented of all unemployed young people across the EU regions eligible for YEI (essentially regions that had youth unemployment rates over 25% in 2012). No further changes to these criteria are expected.
355. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Social Protection the management and governance of the youth guarantee here; if she will give a commitment that the initiative will be overseen by a high-level group made up of the key stakeholders such as young jobseekers, youth organisations, education and training providers, career guidance experts, employers and relevant Departments as required by the youth guarantee implementation plan which must be submitted to the European Parliament; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50329/13]
View answerIn order to develop and implement a Youth Guarantee Plan, the Department of Social Protection has set up an interdepartmental Youth Guarantee Implementation Group with officials and programme managers from the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The terms of reference for this group are to review the current range of youth employment services in Ireland, to assess what measures are appropriate to deliver the Youth Guarantee in Ireland and to develop the implementation plan for approval of Government and transmission to the EU.
In addition, in order to get non-governmental input into the Youth Guarantee implementation plan the Department of Social Protection held a YG stakeholders’ consultation forum in October. The DSP has invited further submissions from the bodies that attended. In addition the Department has retained the OECD to provide input and advice on the framing of the plan (the OECD is also providing assistance to a number of other countries). As part of this process a delegation from the OECD met with stakeholders at the aforementioned forum as well as with a range of relevant public bodies. Ultimately stakeholder feedback via the forum, submissions and bilateral meetings with the OECD has fed into the design of the national YG implementation plan.
A Labour Market Council (LMC) has also been established. The LMC is comprised of ministerial appointees from the business, trade union, community and voluntary and academic sectors which was established in September of this year. The LMC reports directly to the Minister for Social on matters of labour market policy. One of the main tasks of the LMC is to advise on the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.
356. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection if the General Register Office retains records of the number of persons attending its research facility; and if the GRO compiles statistics on the number of persons attending the facility to trace their family records due to their having been adopted or knowing a person who has been adopted. [50335/13]
View answerThe General Register Office operates a dedicated genealogy research room in Dublin with capacity for 40 people. Members of the public can search indexes of births, deaths and marriages and obtain photocopies of entries they require. The following table gives a summary of research activity for the years 2008-2012.
|
- |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
General search |
2,466 |
2,780 |
2,612 |
2,353 |
2,093 |
|
Limited search |
23,546 |
24,574 |
23,910 |
21,805 |
20,380 |
|
Copies of register entries issued |
50,262 |
69,690 |
69,337 |
64,214 |
61,715 |
The General Register Office does not compile data on the number of searches made relating to persons who are adopted.
357. Deputy Nicky McFadden asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a jobseeker's allowance application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath; if an appeal is necessary; if it will be heard as soon as possible in view of the severe financial pressures the applicant is under; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50340/13]
View answerThe person concerned submitted an application for Jobseekers Allowance on 30 April, 2013. A condition for receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance is that a person must be habitually resident in the State. As he was found not to be habitually resident, his application was disallowed and he was informed of this decision on 22 July, 2013. The person concerned has appealed this decision and the Social Welfare Appeals Office will be in touch in due course.
359. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Social Protection the total number of places reserved on education, training and back to work initiatives for under 26s under the responsibility of her Department in 2010, 2011 and 2012; if she will provide a breakdown of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50346/13]
View answerPlaces on activation programmes are not generally reserved for a specific age-group. However, expected take up by unemployed young people on programmes offering full-time opportunities is currently expected to be in excess of 27,500 next year. The programmes involved here are JobBridge; Tús, Community Employment and Gateway; JobsPlus; the Back-to-Work Enterprise Allowance; FAS/Solas training for the unemployed; Youthreach/Community Training Centres; Momentum; the Back to Education Allowance; the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme; and initiatives related to entrepreneurship and international work experience that are under consideration in the context of the youth guarantee.
These figures do not include young people progressing in the normal way through initial training such as apprenticeships, Post-Leaving Certificate courses, and vocationally-oriented third level courses, all of which contribute to guarantee of places for young people leaving second-level education.
360. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an appeal for domiciliary care allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Offaly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50349/13]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 17 September 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these have been received from the Department, the case in question 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 appeal 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
361. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will reconsider her decision to withdraw the telephone rental allowance where the household involved is renting specialised telephone equipment to deal with hearing difficulties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50370/13]
View answerThe overall concern of the Government in this and previous budgets has been to protect the primary weekly social welfare rates and we are not in a position to reverse this budget measure. Maintaining the rate of the State pension and other core payments is critical in relation to protecting people from poverty. To allow us to protect these core payments, we have had to look very carefully at other additional payments. The cost of the telephone allowance scheme had risen each year with the number of eligible customers also increasing significantly. In 2007 there were some 316,000 people receiving the telephone allowance compared to almost 396,000 at the end of September this year, an increase of 25%. Each year almost 10,000 extra customers become eligible for the allowance because of the increased number of pension recipients.
I am keenly aware of the impact on the Department’s customers. While we are ending the telephone allowance the savings that this will provide means that we have been able to keep at the same rates the other elements of the household benefits package, including the free electricity/gas allowance and the free television licence. We have also retained the fuel allowance, free travel and the living alone increase.
The monthly allowances under the household benefits package are a contribution towards the cost of services; they are not intended to meet those costs in full. The ending of the telephone allowance of €9.50 per month (or about €2.20 per week) will not result in the automatic removal of any specialised telephone equipment. Indeed, since the Budget announcement, I am aware that one telephone company has advertised that they will cover the value of the allowance. I would hope that other telephone companies will consider this.
The telephone allowance was introduced at a time when telephones were expensive and uncommon and a landline service was the only option available to the customer. The market has changed enormously since the introduction of the allowance, with several companies providing a range of services and rates with bundled services including television, telephone and broadband and pay-as-you-go mobiles. There has been a marked decline in the use of specialist telecommunications equipment for people with hearing difficulties since the advent of mobile and smart ‘phones.
362. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the recent refusal of an appeal for disability allowance in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50380/13]
View answerI am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision on 1 November 2013. Under Social Welfare legislation, the decision of an Appeals Officer is final and conclusive and may only be reviewed in the light of additional evidence or new facts. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that to date, the person concerned has not submitted additional evidence that would warrant a review of the Appeals Officer’s original decision. 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
363. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the maximum amount of rent support available in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50381/13]
View answerThe client concerned is in receipt of her full entitlement to rent supplement based on the information she provided at time of application. She and her partner are both in receipt of separate full rate weekly payments. Their rent supplement entitlement is based on their income, household composition, location and their monthly rental expenditure.
