Written Answers Nos. 107-18
108. Deputy Eric Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12535/14]
View answerI confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on 22 November 2013. The person concerned was refused carers allowance on the grounds that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. She was notified of this decision on 6 January 2014, the reasons for it and of her right of review or appeal. The person concerned appealed this decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office and submitted further medical evidence in support of the appeal. This supplementary information has been forwarded to the Department's medical assessor for consideration. If the outcome remains unchanged a submission will be prepared and her file and papers will be forwarded to the Social Welfare Appeals Office for determination.
109. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection her Department's policy in relation to a recipient of jobseeker's allowance who qualifies for illness benefit and if that recipient is required to submit a new application for jobseeker's allowance when the entitlement to illness benefit elapses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12567/14]
View answerThe social welfare system is primarily a contingency-based system, with entitlement based on defined contingencies, such as sickness, unemployment, old age or widowhood. Primary social welfare legislation provides that only one social welfare payment is payable at any one time. While it can happen that a person may experience more than one contingency at the same time - for example, an unemployed person may become sick - a general principle applies whereby even if a person experiences more than one of the contingencies at any one time, he or she only receives one of those payments. This principle is common to social security systems across the world.
In line with these provisions where a person in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance qualifies for illness benefit their jobseeker’s allowance claim is closed. If, upon expiry of the period in receipt of illness benefit, the person is unemployed he/she may submit a new claim for jobseeker’s allowance.
111. Deputy Gerald Nash asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of claimants receiving rent supplement payments in counties Louth and Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12582/14]
View answerThe purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are currently approximately 78,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014. There are currently 2,405 rent supplement recipients in County Louth and 1,920 recipients in County Meath.
112. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will change the rules to allow eligible persons to indicate their interest to their social protection office in community employment, Gateway and Tús schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12583/14]
View answer113. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Social Protection if participants on Gateway will be eligible for training while on the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12584/14]
View answer114. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of Gateway places offered and filled in the area of the four Dublin local authorities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12585/14]
View answer119. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Social Protection the penalties that apply if someone does not take up an offer of a place on Gateway and if the same penalties apply in respect of other schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12626/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 112 to 114, inclusive, and 119 together.
Tús and Gateway were established to provide short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are long-term unemployed. A key feature of these initiatives is that all selection is undertaken by random processes conducted at local level by the Department of Social Protection. Tús and Gateway are part of a suite of interventions the Department funds and they are designed to meet the priorities established by the Government in Pathways to Work.
A customer in receipt of jobseeker's payment is required to take up reasonable offers of work or training in order to retain entitlement to that payment. The opportunities offered under Tús and Gateway fall within that condition. If a reasonable opportunity of work, a work placement or training is refused without good reason, a suspension may be applied to a customer’s social welfare payment in the first instance. Should a customer continue to refuse to take up a reasonable offer under various schemes, the Department may take steps to penalise the jobseeker by reducing the value of the jobseeker's weekly payment.
While I have no proposals to alter the operational arrangements for Tús or Gateway, the Department monitors the operation of all programmes and schemes on an ongoing basis and will alter arrangements where these are considered necessary to achieve the objectives set by the Government. Advice on the opportunities across a range of work placement, internships, self-employment, training and educational supports and options can be accessed via the Department’s offices and Intreo service and further information is available on the Department’s website – www.welfare.ie.
While 3,000 places have been allocated to Local Authorities under Gateway, to date progress on the roll-out has been slower than anticipated. The following table provides details of the allocation of Gateway places offered and filled in the four Dublin local authorities up to Friday, 7 March.
Allocation and places filled on Gateway
|
Local Authority |
LA Target based on LA bands |
Places Filled (week ending 7 March 2014) |
|
Fingal County Council |
215 |
10 |
|
Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council |
110 |
- |
|
Dublin City Council |
295 |
- |
|
South Dublin County Council |
215 |
- |
|
Total |
835 |
10 |
115. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount she and her Department have paid out in fees to consultants and external service providers since taking up her role of Minister for Social Protection in February 2011 up to February 2014; if she will provide a detailed breakdown of all moneys paid; the persons to whom they were paid; the service that was provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12586/14]
View answerThe procurement of services is essential to support the Department in providing a high quality service to the public in a cost effective and efficient manner and is governed by a comprehensive regulatory, legal and procedural framework.
The Department engages a range of consultants (individuals or organisations) to provide intellectual or knowledge based services (expert analysis and advice) including the delivery of reports, studies, assessments, recommendations and proposals that contribute to decision making or policy making.
The Department is engaged in a number of service delivery modernisation and transformation programmes involving business, organisational and technological, change. In additional the Department is engaged in a number of cross cutting public service reform programmes such as the public services card. These programmes are supported by the procurement of external development services (external service provision) as well as engagement of external consultants to provide strategic technical advice.
In accordance with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform procedures, procurements of goods and services in excess of €25,000 excluding VAT and all IT procurements in excess of €10,000 excluding VAT are advertised on E-tenders.
Total expenditure on the engagement of consultants and external service providers for business change purposes by my Department for the years 2011 to end January 2014 (latest set of figures available) is set out as follows and details of providers involved are included in the following tables.
|
Year |
Total |
|
2011 |
€10,809,309 |
|
2012 |
€10,309,731 |
|
2013 |
€13,479,731 |
|
2014 (end Jan) |
€232,754 |
I am satisfied that the engagement of consultants and external service providers contributes to decision making and policy formulation, and provides valuable support for the Department’s service delivery modernisation and reform programmes, and that procurement of consultants and external service providers is compliant with best practice in realising value for money.
External Service Provision - Year 2011
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Bearing Point |
SDM - Support & Maintenance |
€4,981,717 |
|
Bearing Point |
Redundancy & Insolvency Functions |
€1,165,158 |
|
Bearing Point |
SDM - Non Contributory Suite |
€1,018,450 |
|
Hewlett Packard |
SDM - Certification of Unemployment by Mobile Phone |
€685,488 |
|
Accenture |
GRO Maintenance & Development |
€430,899 |
|
Hewlett Packard |
Office Systems Modernisation |
€199,475 |
|
Accenture |
SDM - Means Object |
€195,305 |
|
Bearing Point |
SDM - Activation Customer Profiling & Case Management |
€132,788 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
PARP Modifications |
€77,137 |
|
Version 1 |
Welfare.ie Maintenance & Support |
€55,162 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
PARP Production Support |
€51,540 |
|
Core International |
Corepay Development & Upgrade |
€38,402 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
PARP Provision Implementation |
€24,200 |
|
Inpute Technologies |
Digital Documents |
€18,906 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
Oracle Financials & Business Objects |
€13,950 |
|
Bearing Point |
Migration of CWS Staff HR Records |
€12,705 |
|
Core International |
Online Overtime |
€1,016 |
|
Red Dog |
Design work on various SDM projects |
€944 |
Consultancy -- Year 2011
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Accenture |
Business Process Improvement |
€186,563 |
|
ESRI |
SWITCH Research Programme |
€150,000 |
|
Naked Objects |
Technical Development Advice |
€144,644 |
|
PA Consulting Group |
Payments Strategy |
€111,142 |
|
Naked Objects |
Business Objects Modelling Advice & Expertise |
€92,104 |
|
Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) |
Social Inclusion Research Innovation Awards |
€50,000 |
|
ESRI |
Analysis & Measurement of Deprivation & Poverty |
€48,001 |
|
Price Waterhouse Cooper |
National Pensions Framework Implementation |
€36,300 |
|
Deloitte & Touche |
IS Audit Consultancy/Computer Audit Assistance |
€14,792 |
|
Dept. of Enterprise, Trade & Employment |
Administrative Burden Review |
€14,000 |
|
Trinity College |
Poverty Research Initiative Awards |
€9,788 |
|
Deloitte & Touche |
Confidential Forensic Investigation Services |
€7,109 |
|
Patrick Oliver Ryan |
Gender Recognition Advisor Group |
€7,000 |
|
UCD |
Poverty Research Initiative Awards |
€6,650 |
|
NUI Maynooth |
Poverty Research Initiative Awards |
€6,500 |
|
NUI Galway |
Poverty Research Initiative Awards |
€5,000 |
|
Eleanor Ashe |
Poverty Research Initiative Awards |
€1,750 |
|
Dr. Mary Mulcahy |
Poverty Research Initiative Awards |
€1,422 |
|
Net Affinity Ltd |
Poverty Research Initiative Awards |
€291 |
eGovernment - Year 2011
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Biometric Card Services |
Standard Authentication Framework Environment (SAFE) Public Services Card |
€182,314 |
|
Hyperion Systems Ltd. |
SAFE Public Services Card |
€72,786 |
|
Bearing Point |
Public Services Card Registration & Management Functionality on BOMi |
€554,353 |
|
John Grenham |
Report on GRO Records |
€3,557 |
External Service Provision - Year 2012
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Bearing Point |
SDM - (Service Delivery Modernisation) Support & Maintenance |
€4,999,946 |
|
Accenture |
General Register Office (GRO) Development |
€319,895 |
|
Hewlett Packard |
Welfare.ie Redesign 2012 |
€260,085 |
|
Hewlett Packard |
Corporate Portal (Stór) Support & Maintenance |
€189,088 |
|
Bearing Point |
Intreo – One Stop Shop Pilot |
€176,836 |
|
Accenture |
SDM- Payment & Generic Scheme |
€166,071 |
|
Hewlett Packard |
SDM - Certification of Unemployment by Mobile Phone |
€145,289 |
|
Bearing Point |
SDM - Non Contributory Suite |
€96,581 |
|
Inpute Technologies |
Digital Documents |
€80,339 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
Payment & Agency Reconciliation Platform (PARP) Support & Development |
€33,532 |
|
Core International |
CoreExpense Travel & Subsistence System Upgrade |
€28,036 |
|
Core International |
Upgrade of Core Time & Attendance System |
€20,245 |
|
Bearing Point |
Migration of FÁS Staff Human Resource Records |
€12,915 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
Oracle Support & Upgrade |
€7,956 |
|
Version 1 |
Welfare.ie Support & Maintenance |
€2,849 |
|
Core International |
Online P60, PRD60 & Income Levy Certificate |
€526 |
Consultancy - Year 2012
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Naked Objects Group Ltd |
SDM - Technical Development Advice |
€199,260 |
|
KPMG |
Actuarial Review of Social Insurance Fund |
€153,750 |
|
ESRI |
SWITCH Research Programme |
€150,000 |
|
OECD |
OECD Review of Long-Term Pension Policy |
€130,000 |
|
Naked Objects Group Ltd |
SDM - Business Objects Modelling Advice & Expertise |
€108,486 |
|
ESRI |
Analysis & measurement of Deprivation & Poverty |
€81,494 |
|
Indecon |
Evaluation of the JobBridge National Internship Scheme |
€59,557 |
|
Accenture |
FÁS ICT Applications Systems Review |
€44,772 |
|
Deloitte & Touche |
IS Internal Audit Services |
€39,541 |
|
Deloitte & Touche |
Security Partner to provide ongoing Information Security Support |
€27,675 |
|
Creative Inc. |
Design Work for Intreo |
€24,777 |
|
PricewaterhouseCoopers |
Review of Pension Charges |
€24,600 |
|
Language |
Intreo Corporate Identity |
€21,990 |
|
Ernst & Young |
Security Partner to provide ongoing Information Security Support |
€7,623 |
|
Rits |
Confidential Forensic Services |
€4,654 |
|
Compass Point |
Developing architecture for Intreo |
€4,600 |
|
Technical Guidance Ltd |
Review of Pension Charges |
€1,230 |
|
Daniel Finn |
Pathways to Work – Consultation |
€650 |
eGovernment - Year 2012
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Biometric Card Services |
SAFE PSC provision |
€2,349,494 |
|
Bearing Point |
Public Services Card Registration & Management Functionality on BOMi |
€265,776 |
|
Consult Hyperion |
SAFE PSC |
€36,472 |
|
Inpute Technologies Ltd |
SAFE PSC |
€33,210 |
External Service Provision - Year 2013
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Production Support |
€1,937,320 |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Business Change |
€1,193,050 |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Release & Environments Mgt Functions |
€779,367 |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Central Test |
€640,011 |
|
Deloitte & Touche |
Support to Regional Development Team (Client Contact & Assessment) |
€537,854 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
PARP Upgrade Support & Enhancements |
€481,293 |
|
Bearing Point |
Illness & Disability Scheme enhancement |
€379,669 |
|
Accenture |
SDM- Payment & Generic Scheme |
€305,330 |
|
Accenture |
General Register Office (GRO) Maintenance & Development |
€271,215 |
|
Deloitte & Touché |
Pathways to Work Case Management - BOM Dev Team |
€254,705 |
|
Hewlett Packard |
Stór Support & Maintenance |
€191,382 |
|
Hewlett Packard |
Welfare.ie Redesign 2012 |
€166,366 |
|
Accenture |
Single European Payment Area (SEPA) compliance |
€136,056 |
|
Bearing Point |
SDM - (Service Delivery Modernisation) Support & Maintenance |
€111,699 |
|
Fujitsu Ireland |
Oracle Support & Upgrade |
€96,699 |
|
Inpute Technologies |
Digital Documents |
€54,405 |
|
FÁS |
FÁS support for existing ES/CE Information Systems |
€47,071 |
|
Accenture |
Predictive Analytics Model |
€15,744 |
|
Core International |
CoreExpense T&S System Upgrade |
€12,414 |
|
Core International |
CorePay & CoreExpense Enhancement (SEPA) |
€5,381 |
|
PlatformWeb |
EURES Cross Border Partnership Website |
€3,250 |
|
Core International |
Core T&A System Upgrade |
€3,167 |
Consultancy - Year 2013
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Naked Objects Group Ltd |
BOMi - Business Objects Modelling Advice & Expertise |
€234,463 |
|
Naked Objects Group Ltd |
BOMi- Technical Development Advice |
€168,181 |
|
ESRI |
SWITCH Research Programme |
€150,000 |
|
Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion |
External Service Delivery - Employment Services |
€140,989 |
|
Haywood Associates |
BOMi- Technical Development Advice |
€87,871 |
|
Axiom Consulting |
Employee Engagement Programme (Culture & Values) |
€74,812 |
|
ESRI |
Analysis & measurement of Deprivation & Poverty |
€69,979 |
|
Deloitte & Touche |
IS Internal Audit Services |
€48,688 |
|
Accenture |
Mobile Opportunity Exploration |
€33,388 |
|
Mercer Ireland Ltd |
Long-term Pensions Policy Research |
€18,450 |
|
ESRI |
Profiling of “Stock” Live Registrants |
€16,873 |
|
Microsoft |
Support to Technical Architecture Group |
€11,515 |
|
Irish Research Council |
Social Inclusion Research Innovation Awards |
€11,103 |
|
Mel Cousins & Associates |
Review of Best International Practice regarding In-Work Supports |
€10,000 |
|
TOR Financial |
Models of National Employment Based Pension Systems |
€9,900 |
|
ESRI |
Evaluation Research (BTEA) |
€9,809 |
|
PricewaterhouseCoopers |
Provision of Financial Advisory Services (for Payment Services Evaluation) |
€7,380 |
|
Deloitte & Touche |
Provision of Security Partner Services |
€6,540 |
|
Irish Nutrition & Dietetic Institute |
Update of the Diet Supplement Diet Cost Report |
€4,000 |
|
Mel Cousins & Associates |
Guidance documentation for deciding & appeals officers |
€2,400 |
eGovernment - Year 2013
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
€ |
|
Accenture |
Enhancement of Means Assessment Object Project |
€352,645 |
|
Accenture |
SDM- Payment & Generic Scheme |
€1,160,328 |
|
Biometric Card Services |
Standard Authentication Framework Environment (SAFE) Public Services Card |
€2,779,411 |
|
Consult Hyperion |
SAFE PSC |
€23,720 |
|
3M |
SAFE - Facial Image Matching |
€184,794 |
|
Bearing Point |
Public Services Card Registration & Management Functionality on BOMi |
€224,917 |
|
Monsoon Consulting |
Modification to Jobseekers smartphone app |
€7,042 |
|
Monsoon Consulting |
Updates to Jobseekers smartphone app |
€7,085 |
External Service Provision - Year 2014
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
Spend to 27 th January 2014 € |
|
Hewlett Packard |
Stór Support & Maintenance |
€52,939 |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Production Support |
€48,889 |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Business Change |
€28,657 |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Release & Environments Mgt Functions |
€19,196 |
|
Bearing Point |
BOMi Central Test |
€15,506 |
|
FÁS |
FÁS support for existing ES/CE Information Systems |
€8,462 |
|
Inpute Technologies |
Cardiff Teleform Software Development & Support |
€7,175 |
Consultancy - Year 2014
|
Contractor |
Purpose |
Spend to 27 th January 2014 € |
|
OECD |
Youth Guarantee Advice |
€50,000 |
|
Microsoft |
Support to Technical Architecture Group |
€1,930 |
|
Government – Nil spend to end January 2014 |
- |
|
- |
- |
117. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a carer's allowance and a jobseeker's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied). [12603/14]
View answerI confirm that the Department received applications from the person concerned for Carer’s Allowance on 12 April 2013 and for Jobseeker's Allowance on 14 February 2014.
His application for Carer’s Allowance was withdrawn on 1 October 2013 on the grounds that requested information was not provided to a social welfare investigator regarding his employment record while living abroad and details regarding a company he owns, in order to establish his correct entitlements. To date this information has not been furnished, and no request for a review of his claim for Carer's Allowance has been received.
His application for Jobseeker’s Allowance was refused on 3 March 2014 on the grounds that the person concerned did not meet the conditions of being habitually resident in the State. He was notified of this decision and of his right to seek a review or to appeal the decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office. To date, no request for a review or appeal of this decision has been received.
