Written Answers Nos. 154 - 168
154. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Taoiseach if the Central Statistics Office compiles information on the total amount of alcohol sold here and the amounts imported into the State for sale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42843/14]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office produces estimates for the total expenditure on alcohol. These estimates are based on Revenue data for both imported and home produced quantities.
To convert alcoholic drinks to pure alcohol, typically beer is weighted as 4-5%, wine as 11-16% and spirits as 40% of pure alcohol equivalent.
The table gives the quantities of litres of pure alcohol (l.p.a.) sold based on net receipts within the State over the last 5 years.
Litres of Pure Alcohol
|
Year |
Imported |
Home Made |
Total |
|
2009 |
19,485,209 |
20,216,427 |
39,701,636 |
|
2010 |
21,978,459 |
19,872,802 |
41,851,260 |
|
2011 |
22,341,543 |
19,584,046 |
41,925,589 |
|
2012 |
21,866,190 |
19,207,388 |
41,073,578 |
|
2013 |
20,894,513 |
17,141,247 |
38,035,760 |
155. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Taoiseach if there is a list available of applicants for positions on boards and State bodies in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42860/14]
View answerThere is currently no list of applicants for positions on Boards or State bodies in my Department.
156. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach the annual breakdown of the fees to recruitment and employment agencies by his Department and the bodies under his aegis. [42861/14]
View answer157. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach the average cuts paid by his Department and the bodies under his aegis to recruitment and temporary employment agencies, that is, the proportion of the fee paid from State funding to such agencies that is received by the worker and the proportion by the agency. [42862/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 156 and 157 together.
No fees were paid to recruitment and employment agencies by my Department or by the bodies under its aegis in the period January 2011 to October 2014.
158. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if sufferers of epilepsy, a long-term illness condition, will be included in the free travel scheme [42926/14]
View answerThere are currently approximately 800,000 people in receipt of free travel at an annual cost of €77 million per annum.
The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66, including those with epilepsy and other long-term medical conditions, must be in receipt of a qualifying payment in order to qualify for the scheme. The qualifying payments for those aged under 66 are invalidity pension, blind pension, disability allowance, carer’s allowance or an equivalent social security payment from a country covered by EC Regulations or one with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement.
The Department is not in a position to consider extending the scheme to those aged under 66 years who are not in receipt of a qualifying payment from the Department.
160. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons that have been transferred from rent allowance to housing assistance payment in Cork County Council, Waterford City and County Council, South Dublin County Council, Kilkenny County Council, Monaghan County Council and Louth County Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42827/14]
View answerThe purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. There are currently approximately 72,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.
The Department’s strategic policy direction is to transfer responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with a long-term housing need to local authorities under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). HAP will provide a more integrated system of housing supports and has been designed to allow any households that find full-time employment to remain in the scheme. Rent supplement will continue to be paid to those already in the private rented sector who have a short-term need of rental support, often as a result of the loss of employment.
HAP was introduced in Cork County Council, Limerick City and County Council and Waterford City and County Council on 15th September, 2014 and in South Dublin County Council, Kilkenny County Council, Monaghan County Council and Louth County Council on 1st October, 2014. Details of the number of persons currently in receipt of HAP, as supplied by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, are provided in the tabular statement.
Department of Social Protection officials are working closely with those in the lead Department of Environment, Community and Local Government to support the implementation of HAP within the selected local authorities.
Tabular Statement: Household in receipt of HAP as at 6 November 2014 - Source: Department of Environment, Community and Local Government
|
Local Authority |
Transferred |
New Claims |
Total |
|
Limerick |
122 |
23 |
145 |
|
Kilkenny County Council |
2 |
7 |
9 |
|
Cork County Council |
- |
6 |
6 |
|
Monaghan County Council |
- |
1 |
1 |
|
Louth County Council |
- |
- |
- |
|
Waterford City and County Council |
- |
- |
- |
|
South Dublin County Council |
- |
- |
- |
|
Totals |
124 |
37 |
161 |
161. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when mortgage supplement will be restored in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare in view of the hardship caused; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42856/14]
View answerThe mortgage interest supplement of the person referred to was reviewed on 8 August 2014 and due to the failure of the client to return the required documentation within the two weeks allowed, the payment was suspended on 3 October 2014.
The required documentation has now been received and the review completed. Payment has been approved and arrears due will issue on 25 November 2014.
162. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the efforts her Department will make to ensure all customers' CVs uploaded will be kept confidential; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42870/14]
View answerJobsIreland (www.jobsireland.ie) is a free vacancy advertising and job search service provided by the Department of Social Protection to support employers and jobseekers. Improving the job/candidate matching capability of this service is to incentivise employers to use the service to provide more jobs for those who are unemployed. At present jobseekers can use the site to manually search for jobs however employers cannot use the service in the ‘reverse’ direction to search for candidates. In addition there is no automatic matching of candidates/jobs to present a shortlist of suitable opportunities to jobseekers or suitable candidates to employers.
Accordingly a tender process is currently underway for a new job matching system to replace/upgrade JobsIreland. Subject to the outcome of the tender process it is anticipated that the new system will go live during 2015.
In order to populate the new site with sufficiently detailed candidate profiles to enable employers match their job requirements with suitable candidates, jobseekers will be asked to upload their CVs on JobsIreland and other similar employment sites. In addition to providing evidence to the Department that the jobseeker is genuinely seeking, and available for, employment this will bring benefits to the jobseeker as it will improve their chances of being ‘matched’ with employers in three ways. First, the new Jobslreland service will itself automatically match candidate profiles with suitable jobs and will notify both the jobseeker and the employer of the match details. Second, employers will have the ability to refine the search parameters and conduct an ‘advance’ search for job for candidates with specific skills, qualifications and/or experience. Third, jobseekers will have a similar search capability and will, by examining matching results, be able to refine the presentation of their CV to maximise its likelihood of being identified as a match for particular job types.
It is important to note that, unless otherwise specified by the jobseeker, candidate personal information, such as name and address, will not be visible to employers or other users. Instead candidate ID numbers will be used and these will enable prospective employers to communicate with jobseekers using messaging functionality on the system. In addition jobseekers will only be requested to upload their CV in circumstances where their case worker is of the opinion that it is appropriate to do so. In particular it is not intended that jobseekers with significant barriers to employment, for example literacy problems, will be requested to upload their CV. Such jobseekers will, as is the practice at the moment, be referred to appropriate service interventions.
164. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to bring forward legislation to ensure that fathers' names are mandatory on all birth certificates. [42929/14]
View answerThe Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014 was introduced in the Seanad in July 2014 and it has passed all stages in that House. It is currently progressing through the Dáil where Committee Stage was completed on 5 November 2014 and Report Stage is scheduled for 18 November 2014. It is intended that the Bill will be enacted before the end of the year.
The Bill provides that, other than in exceptional circumstances, it is the duty of both parents to provide their particulars when registering the birth of a child, regardless of whether they are married to each other or not. The aim of this provision is to enable the child to have access to their identity by knowing who their parents are.
165. Deputy Noel Coonan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a carer's allowance application will be finalised in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42932/14]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 5 November 2014 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
166. Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person currently working three days and receiving a proportionately reduced rate of unemployment assistance is permitted to increase their employment to four days per week with a further pro-rata reduction in unemployment assistance; her plans to change the rules to allow such an arrangement. [42947/14]
View answerThe jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2014 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €3.28 billion.
It is a fundamental qualifying condition of both schemes that a person must be fully unemployed for four in any period of seven consecutive days, so a person working four days a week will not qualify.
It is recognised that a changing labour market has resulted in a move away from the more traditional work patterns, resulting in an increase in the number of persons employed for less than a full week. This is an important policy issue for the Department but any changes to the current criteria could have significant cost implications for the jobseekers’ schemes
The Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare has examined the issue of the interaction of the tax and social welfare systems to determine how the social welfare system can best achieve its goals of supporting persons through periods of involuntary unemployment while incentivising work and disincentivising welfare dependency. I am currently considering the report of the Group.
167. Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of tip-offs received from members of the public relating to suspected cases of fraud in each of the years 2011 to 2013, inclusive, and to date in 2014; the number of these that resulted in confirmation of fraudulent activity upon investigation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42962/14]
View answerThe Department of Social Protection receives reports of possible fraud from members of the public in relation to the operation of its schemes. A dedicated phone number and a facility on the Department’s website are available for this purpose.
The following are the number of anonymous reports received in the Department’s Control Division in the period 2011 to 2014 (Jan-Oct):
|
- |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 (Jan-Oct) |
|
Total |
16,917 |
28,022 |
24,720 |
16,359 |
All anonymous or confidential reports are examined and, where relevant, are referred to scheme areas or Inspectors for follow-up action. A payment is not suspended or stopped on the basis of an anonymous report however the report may “trigger” a review of a customer’s entitlement. Anonymous reports are not available to Deciding Officers when they are making their decisions on cases. The Deciding Officer’s decision must be based on the full facts and circumstances of the case. As anonymous reports are used merely to “trigger” or instigate investigations, but do not form any part of the evidence and are not taken into account when the review of the customer’s payment is being decided, therefore detailed statistics on the outcomes of anonymous reports are unavailable.
It should be borne in mind that while there is often a perception of fraud, when a case is examined the individual may be doing something that is allowed under the rules of the particular payment that they receiving e.g. working and receiving a One Parent Family Payment, provided earnings are within the limits and the Department is aware of the situation, is legitimate.
168. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when she will establish the pensions council. [42980/14]
View answerThe Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 provided for the establishment of a new body called the Pensions Council.
The Pensions Council will be made up of a chairperson and not less than 8 and not more than 12 ordinary members. The ordinary members are to include:
- the Pensions Regulator;
- a representative of the Department of Social Protection;
- a representative of the Central Bank;
- a representative of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform;
- no fewer than 4 and not more than 8 other members with specialist knowledge, skills or expertise.
The Pensions Council will provide an opportunity for experts from the pensions sector and consumer and pensioner interests to provide collective advice, information and assistance on the development of pension policy. The composition of the Pensions Council is intended to allow for comprehensive and complete consideration of pension issues.
A Chairperson for the Council, has been announced, but will not be formally appointed until the membership of the Council has been finalised. I hope to appoint the Council in the coming weeks, and an announcement will follow shortly.
