Thursday, 5 Feb 2015

Social Welfare Eligibility

Questions (96)

Barry Cowen

Question:

96. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form on a county basis the number of persons who have received sanctions imposed on their jobseeker payment due to failure to meet all the conditions that apply to the payment per annum from 2011 to 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5418/15]

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Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

In order to qualify for a jobseeker’s payment, a person must meet certain conditions, including the requirement to be available for, capable of and genuinely seeking full-time work. A range of sanctions, including disqualification, closure or disallowance of the jobseeker claim, may be imposed where a client fails to meet the stated conditions. A jobseeker claim may be reviewed at any time in order to establish continued entitlement.

Additionally, in relation to activation, legislation provides that further sanctions/penalties in the form of reduced payments may be imposed by a Deciding Officer where clients fail, without good cause, to comply with activation measures. Activation measures include the requirement to attend group or individual meetings, and/or avail of suitable education, training or development opportunities, or specified employment programmes, which are considered appropriate to a person’s circumstances.

Where a person continues to fail, without good cause, to comply with activation measures, while on a penalty rate, he/she may be disqualified from receiving the personal rate of payment (effective rate reduction to zero). The normal rate of payment may be reinstated at any time, if the jobseeker complies, as requested, with activation measures.

Total numbers of reduced rates applied (including zero rate), since their introduction in Q2 2011, are as set out in the table. The data are not available by county.

Year	Number Applied
2011	359
2012	1,519
2013	3,395
2014	5,325
Total	10,598

Departmental Bodies Reports

Questions (97)

Robert Troy

Question:

97. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the criteria used by the Citizens Information Board to select a design team to recommend new management structures for Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, and Citizens Information Services, CIS; the reason the existing voluntary companies, or their representative bodies which have developed and managed these services locally are not consulted; the cost of the inconclusive consultants report commissioned by CIB on proposed new structures; and the reason it is necessary to abandon the local management structures when these have proven to have worked so well for so many years at no cost to the Exchequer to be replaced by regional or national structures which will be less cost-effective and will be removed from the local knowledge base so vital to the success of these services. [5439/15]

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Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for supporting the provision of information, advice (including money and budgeting advice service) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services. The Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 provided for the transfer of responsibility for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) to the Citizens Information Board (CIB), under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection.

CIB delivers on its remit to provide services to the public by supporting a network of delivery partners which includes 42 local Citizens Information Services (CIS) and 51 local Money Advice and Budgeting Services (MABS).

In 2015, the CIB will receive a budget allocation of €46m from the Department of Social Protection, of which €17.94m will be allocated to MABS.

Among the strategic priorities set out in CIB’s Strategic Plan 2012-2015, is the development and implementation of an integrated service delivery model that puts the citizen at the centre.

In 2014, following a public procurement exercise, CIB commissioned a feasibility study to identify options for organisational integration by its delivery partners. The aim was to develop clearer and more effective pathways to the provision of information, advice and advocacy services and thereby achieve better outcomes for citizens, and make optimum use of the state resources available to CIB. The work was carried out by a company called Pathfinder, at a cost of €78,000 excluding VAT, and was overseen by a Steering Group, comprising national representatives from Citizens Information Services staff and Boards, MABS staff and Boards and staff from the Citizens Information Board.

The work carried out by Pathfinder included extensive and comprehensive consultation with all stakeholders, including representatives of CIB’s delivery partner services (CIS and MABS) at local level. The study, which presents a number of options, was considered by the Board of CIB, which agreed to the establishment of a Design Group tasked with outlining and recommending possible new structural models. The Design Group includes members of the voluntary boards and staff of a number of the CIS and MABS, together with representation from CIB management. CIB has invited submissions from the representative of Boards and staff of CIS and MABS, to inform the deliberations of the Design Group. This engagement with stakeholders will continue while the work of the Design Group is underway, before reporting back to the Board of CIB in due course.

Question No. 98 withdrawn.

Property Tax Data

Questions (99)

Ray Butler

Question:

99. Deputy Ray Butler asked the Minister for Finance the names and total number of all Members of Dáil Éireann who have not yet complied with paying their current local property tax and-or household charge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5183/15]

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Written answers

Minister for Finance

As the Deputy is aware, for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality, the Revenue Commissioners are prohibited from providing information in respect of any individual taxpayer or any small group of taxpayers.

I am advised by Revenue that mandatory deductions at source from salary or occupational pensions applied for Local Property Tax in relation to about 30,000 properties in 2013, and 40,000 properties in 2014.

In addition, since taking over responsibility for Household Charge [HHC] collection from July 2013, HHC arrears of €40 million has been paid to Revenue in respect of approximately 253,000 properties. This includes 44,500 properties on which mandatory deduction at source was applied.

Fuel Laundering

Questions (100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109)

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Written answers

Minister for Finance

I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 to 109, inclusive, together.

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the number of oil laundries detected and closed down in the period from 2010 to 2014 was 35. Details of those detections, by year and by the counties in which they occurred, are set out in the following table.

Year	Cavan	Donegal	Dublin	Laois	Louth	Meath	Monaghan	Offaly	Waterford	Totals
2010	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	4
2011	0	1	0	0	1	1	6	0	0	9
2012	1	0	0	0	7	0	3	0	0	11
2013	0	0	1	0	2	1	4	0	1	9
2014	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2
Totals	1	1	1	1	11	2	16	1	1	35

The Deputy will appreciate that it is inherently difficult to estimate the scale of any illegal activity, the capacity of fuel laundries and the impact of the criminal activity on the Exchequer. The Revenue Commissioners advise me that, while there is no reliable estimate of the extent of illegal activity in the fuel sector, they recognise that fuel fraud, including the laundering of markers from rebated fuel, is a significant threat to Exchequer revenues. Action against this illegal activity continues, therefore, to be a priority for Revenue, which is implementing a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem. Key elements of this strategy include the following:

- The licensing regime for auto fuel traders was strengthened with effect from September 2011 to limit the ability of fuel criminals to place laundered fuel on the market.

- A new licensing regime was introduced for marked fuel traders in October 2012, designed to limit the ability of criminals to source marked fuel for laundering.

- New requirements in relation to fuel traders' records of stock movements and fuel deliveries were introduced to ensure that data would be available to support supply chain analysis.

- Following a significant investment in the required IT systems, new supply chain controls were introduced from January 2013. These controls require all licensed fuel traders, whether dealing in road fuel or marked fuel, to make monthly electronic returns to Revenue of their fuel transactions. These data are being used to identify suspicious or anomalous transactions and patterns of distribution that will support follow-up enforcement action where necessary.

Following a joint process, Revenue and HM Revenue & Customs in the UK have identified a new and more effective product to mark rebated fuels. The marker will be produced by Dow Chemical Company and will be introduced in the State and in the UK from the end of March 2015, providing a significant boost in the fight against illegal fuel laundering in both jurisdictions.

In addition, I have introduced a range of legislative measures in recent years to support Revenue's work in combatting fuel fraud, including reckless trading provisions that ensure a mineral oil trader is liable for the mineral oil tax evaded where that trader knew, or was reckless as to whether or not, in making the supply or delivery, he or she was participating in a transaction or series of transactions connected to the evasion of Mineral Oil Tax. In the Finance Act 2014, I introduced measures to further strengthen Revenue's ability to refuse or revoke a mineral oil trader's licence where the trader does not comply with excise law, does not maintain adequate stock management systems and records, or provides false or misleading information.

I am advised also that the Revenue Commissioners co-operate closely with other enforcement authorities, in this jurisdiction and in Northern Ireland, in combatting the all-island problem of fuel fraud. The Cross Border Fuel Fraud Enforcement Group, which includes representatives of the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Síochána, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other relevant organisations, was established to facilitate this co-operation. I am assured that it has proven effective in supporting the identification and targeting of the organised crime gangs, many with links to paramilitaries and former paramilitaries, that are responsible for the bulk of fuel fraud. All of the enforcement authorities engaged in tackling fuel fraud and those responsible for it are committed to working closely together on an ongoing basis in this important work.

Revenue's strategy has already yielded significant results. Since mid-2011, 134 filling stations were closed for breaches of licensing conditions, over three million litres of fuel have been seized and 31 oil laundries were detected and closed down. Industry sources indicate a much-reduced incidence of laundered fuel on the market and increased road diesel consumption and tax revenues are up 13% compared with a couple of years ago. Obviously, other economic factors have contributed to this growth but reduced fraud is an important factor.

Details of closures, by county, for those years are set out in the following table.

Region	County	2012	2013	2014
Dublin	Dublin	8	3	1
Border Midlands West	Cavan	2	0	1
-	Donegal	5	2	0
-	Galway	3	0	1
-	Longford	2	0	0
-	Louth	13	3	3
-	Mayo	2	1	0
-	Monaghan	0	2	0
-	Roscommon	3	0	0
-	Sligo	1	1	0
-	Westmeath	2	0	0
East South East	Kildare	3	4	1
-	Kilkenny	2	1	1
-	Laois	1	0	2
-	Meath	2	9	0
-	Tipperary	1	0	1
-	Waterford	0	3	1
-	Wexford	0	0	3
South West	Cork	4	1	0
-	Limerick	3	0	0
TOTAL	-	57	30	15

The County breakdown for 2011 is not readily available.

It has been suggested on a number of occasions that the current system of marking lower taxed fuels should be replaced by one based on repayments to the users. However, a change of this nature would impact on a wide range of users, would be costly to implement and would, itself, be at risk from fraud. Marked gas oil has a wide variety of uses, including the propulsion of trains, in agricultural, construction and industrial machinery, for commercial sea-navigation (including fishing) and commercial and home heating purposes. A change to a rebate system would involve the establishment of an expensive and wide-ranging repayments system and would place a new administrative burden on oil traders, on the large number of users and the Revenue Commissioners. It would also impose significant cash-flow costs on those currently using marked gas oil.

Repayment schemes are vulnerable to abuse and the introduction of a wide-ranging repayment scheme would not offer greater security against fraud than the current arrangements. Fuel in respect of which a repayment of duty was made could be easily diverted to on-road use.

For these reasons, and in light of the progress made by Revenue in tackling the problem, I am satisfied that the strategy being implemented by Revenue is the best course of action. I am also confident that the introduction of the new marker here and in the United Kingdom from the end of March will reinforce the measures already implemented.

The penalties for offences relating to fuel smuggling and laundering are laid down in section 119 of the Finance Act 2001 and section 102 of the Finance Act 1999. On conviction following summary prosecution under these provisions, a court may impose a fine of €5,000, or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months, or both. Where a person is convicted for an indictable offence, the court may impose a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years, or a fine not exceeding €126,970, or both. In addition, where a person who is licensed to retail hydrocarbon oils is convicted of the offence of dealing in illicit fuel, a court may make an order for a temporary prohibition of trade. This order prevents the person convicted from selling or supplying any mineral oil for a period of up to 7 days for a first offence and up to 30 days for a second or subsequent offence.

The fines that may be imposed on conviction were increased in the Finance Act 2010 to an amount significantly higher than that which had applied previously. For example, the fine on conviction for an indictable offence was increased from €12,695 to an amount not exceeding €126,970.

The Courts decide on the level of fine to be applied in any particular case and, in practice, they do not apply fines up to the existing limits. I have no plans at present to increase the penalties available to the Courts. However, the position is kept under review, taking account, among other considerations, of the practical experience of the application of penalties under the current provisions.