Written Answers Nos. 1 - 30
10. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to review the operation of the community employment scheme; her further plans to increase the numbers participating in the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9208/15]
View answerCommunity employment (CE) is the largest employment programme administered by the Department. It aims to enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. In addition, it helps long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine.
CE schemes are typically sponsored by groups wishing to benefit the local community, namely voluntary and community organisations and, to a lesser extent, public bodies involved in not-for-profit activities. Such projects provide a valuable service to local communities while, at the same time, providing training and educational opportunities to job-seekers.
In 2013, the Department provided an additional 2,000 places bringing the number of CE places to 25,300 for 2014. There are approximately 1,000 CE schemes throughout the country at any one time providing services which range from childcare and social care to community support and drug rehabilitation. The CE budget for 2015 is €373.3m, which is an increase of nearly €16 million on the 2014 budget to reflect the full year implementation costs of the additional 2,000 places.
The Department is fully committed to the future of this programme and will continue to support and improve the programme for the benefit of the participants and the valuable contribution it makes to local communities.
The Department keeps the operations of the CE scheme under review and, where necessary, it updates the programme to comply with legislation changes, Government policy decisions, (such as Pathways to Work) and Departmental policy decisions (such as the CE Childcare programme).
CE is subject to continuous improvement and schemes are reviewed on a regular basis. The Department seeks to maximise the utilisation of resources to achieve the best outcomes for the CE participants in terms of awards achieved and progression to employment and, at the same time, to underpin and support the provision of local community services.
There are no plans to expand CE beyond the 25,300 places already budgeted for in 2015.
11. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the steps she will take to prevent lone parents, who are also carers, from losing €86 per week subsequent to her plans to lower the cut-off age for the one-parent payment scheme to seven years. [9313/15]
View answerI am very happy to confirm my announcement this week that I will be extending eligibility to the one-parent family payment (OFP) to lone parents who are also eligible for the half-rate carer’s allowance (CA) payment, until their youngest child is aged 16 years. This acknowledges the special situation for lone parents who are caring and, in particular, acknowledges the commitment of lone parents who are caring for people other than their own child – such as a parent or sibling who requires full-time care and attention.
The OFP scheme already provides for lone parents who are caring for children under 16 years of age, and who are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance (DCA) and a half-rate carer’s allowance payment in conjunction with their OFP. This entitlement is not affected by the ongoing changes to the OFP scheme. This change now provides the same level of support to those caring for someone other than their own child.
This is expected to impact positively on the 800 individuals due to be affected on 2 July, 2015. In addition, all lone parents, whose youngest children is aged between 7 and 16 and who are providing full time care and attention for another person will also now be able to apply for one parent family payment and a half rate carer’s allowance payment.
12. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will change the recently launched First Steps scheme, specifically in relation to penalties, which will be applied to the social welfare payments of those who refuse to participate, in view of the National Youth Council of Ireland's report (details supplied). [9374/15]
View answerFirst Steps is not a new JobBridge - it is a developmental internship scheme for young, disadvantaged jobseekers, for example, very early school leavers or young people with a prior history of addiction problems. The objective of First Steps is to encourage employers to open their doors to such young people; to give them the opportunity to learn and develop basic work and social skills while on a placement in a real work situation.
Towards this end employers are being asked to sponsor one or more disadvantaged young people on an internship of 6 – 9 months duration. These internships will not be advertised by employers; instead participants will be identified by the Department and will be placed with a sponsoring organisation. In this regard, First Steps is closer in design to TÚS than it is to JobBridge.
The Department, in identifying and assessing potential participants, will take care to ensure that they are suited to the placements available and take due regard of any reasons that may be put forward by the young person as to why the placement is not appropriate in their circumstances. However, the Department will, as is the case in TÚS and other programmes, reserve the right to apply a penalty rate of payment if a jobseeker once selected fails, without good cause, to participate in the programme.
To date, over 37,700 jobseekers have voluntarily availed of internship opportunities provided by JobBridge. It has proven itself to be an effective pathway to paid employment – with a large scale independent evaluation showing that over 60% of interns progress to paid employment within five months of completing their internship. A key feature of JobBridge is that internships are voluntarily offered by employers who then interview and select applicants who voluntarily apply directly to them. Other than specifying the eligibility criteria the Department has no role in the identification or selection of participating jobseekers.
13. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the analysis carried out on the impact her changes to farm assist, with respect to income disregards, have had on farmers; if she will reconsider the changes she has made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9386/15]
View answerThe farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. The 2015 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the farm assist scheme of €88.7 million.
All recipients of farm assist have benefitted from the Christmas Bonus paid in December 2014. In addition, all farm assist families with children also gain from the increase in child benefit announced in the Budget.
Recent changes have brought farm assist into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s treatment of self-employed persons but the headline rates of farm assist have been maintained. This means that farm families with the lowest income will be least affected by these changes.
The assessment of means for farm assist is designed to reflect the actual net income from farming. Income and expenditure figures for the preceding year are generally used as an indicator of the expected position in the following year. However, account is taken of any exceptional circumstances so as to ensure that the assessment accurately reflects the current situation. Also any farmer experiencing lower levels of income can ask for a review of the means applying to their claim.
As part of the normal budget process, all potential budget measures, including any changes to the farm assist scheme, are assessed in terms of the impact they would have if introduced. The scheme is kept under ongoing review, including regular discussions with the IFA, by my officials. There are no plans to change the current scheme criteria.
14. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she is satisfied with the power and independence of the Pensions Authority; and if she plans to make changes in this regard. [9212/15]
View answerThe recommendations arising out of the Critical Review on the Pensions Board were approved by Government in April 2013 and were provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2013.
It was recommended that the governance structure of the Board be restructured as follows:
- Oversight of the then Pensions Board to be undertaken by a three person body called the Pensions Authority consisting of a Chairperson and two officials from the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Finance. This was put in place in early 2014.
- The Pensions Board was renamed the Pensions Authority to reflect better its key role of safeguarding the pensions of occupational pension scheme members and the provision of information on occupational pensions.
- A separate unpaid Pensions Council was established to advise me and the Department on matters of pension policy and give consumers greater input into pension policy. The Pensions Council was appointed on 3 February, and its first meeting will be held shortly. Its membership ensures that the relevant skills, knowledge, and experience is available to provide the necessary advice and information in the development of pensions policy.
This separation of the regulatory oversight and policy development functions previously under the Pensions Board will ensure there is no perception of regulatory capture by the industry.
I am satisfied that the new structures as outlined above and the provisions of the Pensions Act provide the Pensions Authority with sufficient power and independence and I do not have any plan to change it further at the present time.
15. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on her Department's recent report, which states that better-off families are set to be the main beneficiaries of budget 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9125/15]
View answerIn January this year, the Department published the social impact assessment of the main welfare and tax measures for 2015, including the new water charges package. Social impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology which estimates the likely effects of welfare and tax policies on households across income levels and social groups.
The assessment was prepared by the Department, which is responsible for the welfare component of the Budget. It is based on the tax/welfare micro simulation model SWITCH developed by the Economic and Social Research Institute. Responsibility for the analysis rests solely with the Department.
It should be noted that certain items are not included in the assessment, for instance, additional expenditure on labour market initiatives (such as the back to work family dividend and the expansion of JobsPlus). In addition, the assessment also does not include non-welfare expenditure measures for 2015, such as healthcare, education, social housing, and the new housing assistance payments, which will remove the barrier to full-time work for long-term recipients of rent supplement. Work is ongoing to quantify these impacts as part of the ESRI SWITCH research programme.
The assessment found that for the first time since the economic crisis, budgetary policy will result in an increase in average household incomes of 0.7 per cent (equivalent of €6 per week). This increase will be experienced across all income quintiles, ranging from a 0.3% gain in average household income for the bottom income quintile to a 1% gain for the top income quintile.
The distributive impact of budgetary policy varies according to the component measures. Welfare increases, such as the increase in child benefit, living alone allowance and the re-introduction of the Christmas bonus, favour lower income households, while tax reductions are more beneficial to middle and higher income groups.
It should be noted that the Government has committed to carrying out a social impact assessment of the main taxation and welfare measures before the publishing of budgets by a cross-Department body led by the Departments of Finance, Social Protection and Public Expenditure and Reform. This commitment will ensure that the social impact of proposed Budget measures is taken into greater consideration in future Budgets.
16. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures her Department is taking to ensure that internships carried out under the JobBridge scheme are of a high standard as regards the quality of mentoring and overall work experience; the process whereby employers are selected for the scheme, and in particular the specific criteria they must meet in order to be included; the criteria for the selection and monitoring of employers for the new First Steps scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9335/15]
View answerJobBridge has made significant progress since its introduction in July 2011. To date, over 37,700 internship placements having commenced, there are currently 6,140 interns on the programme and a further 1,129 positions are advertised on the JobBridge website.
Participation both as a host organisation and as an intern on the scheme is voluntary.
The Department has a range of monitoring and compliance measures in place to ensure that all internships are of high quality. In particular, host organisations are monitored through mandatory monthly online compliance checks and randomised on-site visits to ensure that they are meeting the criteria of the scheme.
Limits also apply to the number of internships that can be offered by any one organisation and there are restrictions on the repeat or sequential use of internships. The Department is satisfied based on its monitoring visits and the report of the independent evaluation that these controls are working effectively.
The objective of First Steps is to encourage employers to ‘open their doors’ to disadvantaged young jobseekers who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn and develop basic work and social skills while on a placement in a real work situation in organisations. The Department is currently canvassing employers asking them to sponsor one or more young people on a first Steps work placement. Placements offered by employers will be assessed based on the nature of the work experience offered and the quality of mentoring and training to be provided.
17. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the percentage of applicants refused a social welfare payment who did not go to the appeals office for the years 2013 and 2014; the reason for the high percentage of applicants that do not go through the appeals process after a disallowance of payment; if this is due to the fact that applicants are not aware of their entitlement to appeal and are therefore losing out on an opportunity to claim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9337/15]
View answerEach year in the Department decisions are made on approximately two million claims across a range of schemes. The deciding officers (DOs) and Designated Persons (DPs) who make these decisions are very conscious of their obligations to customers. Every effort is made to ensure that people receive any entitlements due to them and that information and services are provided in a timely and customer-friendly manner.
DOs and DPs will assist customers in making their applications but, as a matter of law, the burden of providing evidence to support a claim rests with customers.
Excluding decisions on certain administrative schemes, the Department cleared 2,062,177 claims in 2013. Of these, 1,744,076 or 85% were awarded. The remaining 318,101 claims were either disallowed by the Department or withdrawn by the client.
A total of 32,777 appeals were lodged with the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) in 2013. However, it should be noted that this figure includes all appeals and not just those where an initial claim was disallowed by the Department. There would also be appeals on ongoing cases, for example, if there was a fresh means assessment leading to a reduction in payment that could also be appealed to the SWAO.
Provisional data indicate that the Department cleared 1,869,630 claims in 2014, again excluding decisions on certain administrative schemes. Of these, 1,569,045 or 84% were awarded. The remaining 300,585 claims were either disallowed by the Department or withdrawn by the client. In 2014, 26,069 appeals were lodged with the SWAO.
Customers who are not satisfied with the initial decision on their claim are entitled to seek either an internal review or to appeal to the SWAO and are they advised of this when the decision on their claim is communicated to them. In addition, scheme booklets and guidelines published by the Department also explain that people have a right of review and appeal.
The Department does not have any information as to why some people do not avail of the option to have their claim reviewed or to lodge an appeal with the SWAO but it is satisfied that customers are advised of their right to this. It may be that many are then satisfied, based on the information from the Department, that they do not have an entitlement to a payment.
18. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when she will bring forward proposals for a new supplementary workplace retirement saving scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9123/15]
View answerIn line with the recent Statement of Government Priorities, the Government has recently decided to proceed with work to develop a roadmap and timeline for the introduction of a new, universal, supplementary workplace retirement saving scheme.
Development of this roadmap for consideration by Government will be progressed by the establishment of a high level Universal Retirement Savings Group (URSG). The broad role of the group will be to consider the constituent factors involved in constructing an efficient and effective universal retirement savings system and to bring a recommendation to Government in the form of a roadmap and estimated timeline for introduction.
The URSG consists of senior officials from key Government departments and those public bodies with a particular responsibility and expertise in the area. Membership also includes international representatives from the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions and the OECD and who will bring significant expertise in designing, delivering and assessing supplementary pension systems.
In undertaking specific or specialised areas of its work programme the group will consult with, and invite submissions from, pension’s experts external to the group. This will include establishing reference groups to utilise expertise and facilitate input from various sectorial interests such as those from the pensions industry, representatives of employers, trade unions and consumer/interest groups.
The first meeting of the group took place on 25 February 2015. It is hoped that the group will be ready to present its recommendations to Government late this year.
19. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a breakdown of current processing times for decisions of first instance and for the conclusion of appeals, by scheme. [9315/15]
View answerA breakdown of the average time taken by the Department to award applications for social welfare payments, as of January 2015, is detailed in Table 1 below.
The processing times vary by scheme. This principally reflects the fact that the legal eligibility conditions - such as means tests, family circumstances and medical status - are more complex for some schemes than for others. The processing times provided in the table are calculated on the basis of the total time from the registration date of the claim to final award; as such, they incorporate the impact of the appeals process.
Table 2 details average processing times during 2014 and 2015 for appeals of claims relating to weekly social welfare payments. For each payment scheme, the table shows the breakdown between cases where the appeal is decided by summary decision, and those decided following an oral hearing.
Appeal processing times are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of its finalisation. This includes time spent awaiting any clarification from the appellant, time in the Department for comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal put forward by the appellant, and any further investigation, examination or assessment by the Department’s Inspectors and Medical Assessors that is deemed necessary. To ensure accessibility, flexibility, equity and thoroughness, and because it is a quasi-judicial function, the processing of appeals takes time.
Appeal processing times peaked in 2011 when the average time for an oral hearing was 52.5 weeks and for a summary decision was 25.1 weeks. In 2013 the average time for an oral hearing reduced to 33.9 weeks and the time for a summary decision increased slightly to 25.8 weeks. This overall improvement continued in 2014 with appeal processing times reducing to 28.6 weeks for an oral hearing and 21.1 weeks for a summary decision. The downward trend has continued in 2015 with the average processing time for an oral hearing reduced to 27.9 weeks and the time for a summary decision reduced to 18 weeks.
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.
Table 1: Average time to award Claims January 2015
|
Scheme |
Average time to Award Claims (Weeks) |
|
Jobseekers Benefit |
1 |
|
Jobseekers Allowance |
2 |
|
One-Parent Family Payment |
9 |
|
State Pension Contributory (Domestic) |
4 |
|
State Pension Transition (Domestic) |
73 |
|
Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension |
8 |
|
State Pension Non-Contributory |
14 |
|
Household Benefits |
5 |
|
Free Travel |
2 |
|
Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
1 |
|
Child Benefit (Domestic & Formerly Resident Abroad) |
3 |
|
Child Benefit (EU Regulation) |
27 |
|
Family Income Supplement (New Claims) |
3 |
|
Carer's Allowance* |
41 |
|
Disability Allowance* |
29 |
|
Invalidity Pension* |
26 |
|
Illness Benefit |
1 |
* The average time to award new applications which did not enter the appeals process for disability allowance, carers' allowance and invalidity pensions, as of at the end of January, was 17, 12 and 11 weeks respectively.
Table 2: Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2015 – 31/01/15
|
- |
Average processing times (weeks) Summary Decisions |
Average processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings |
|
Blind Pension |
10.3 |
34.3 |
|
Carers Allowance |
21.4 |
33.2 |
|
Carers Benefit |
18.2 |
36.6 |
|
Child Benefit |
23.6 |
24.0 |
|
Disability Allowance |
16.3 |
25.8 |
|
Illness Benefit |
23.2 |
28.9 |
|
Domiciliary Care Allowance |
17.8 |
24.8 |
|
Deserted Wives Benefit |
- |
30.5 |
|
Farm Assist |
11.9 |
34.2 |
|
Bereavement Grant |
16.1 |
26.0 |
|
Family Income Supplement |
25.1 |
18.3 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
28.2 |
28.4 |
|
Liable Relatives |
24.6 |
- |
|
One Parent Family Payment |
24.4 |
51.5 |
|
Partial Capacity Benefit |
34.1 |
- |
|
State Pension (Contributory) |
17.2 |
30.6 |
|
State Pension (Non-Contributory) |
17.5 |
24.2 |
|
State Pension (Transition) |
47.6 |
41.6 |
|
Occupational Injury Benefit |
23.7 |
- |
|
Disablement Pension |
21.8 |
34.0 |
|
Incapacity Supplement |
- |
19.6 |
|
Guardian's Payment (Contributory) |
- |
31.5 |
|
Guardian's Payment (Non-contributory) |
17.0 |
21.8 |
|
Pre-Retirement Allowance |
15.0 |
- |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means) |
14.3 |
22.2 |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance |
15.3 |
24.5 |
|
Recoverable Benefits & Assistance |
8.0 |
- |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit |
15.7 |
17.2 |
|
Respite Care Grant |
17.8 |
29.9 |
|
Insurability of Employment |
25.7 |
36.7 |
|
Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
16.0 |
23.8 |
|
Survivor's Pension (Contributory) |
- |
33.8 |
|
Survivor's Pension (Non-Contributory) |
- |
43.7 |
|
Widowed Parent Grant |
12.6 |
- |
|
All Appeals |
18.0 |
27.9 |
20. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will resolve an anomaly whereby parents of certain children with disabilities may qualify for free travel if they are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance and qualify for a carer’s allowance, but the child for whom the allowance is granted is not eligible for free travel. [9347/15]
View answerThere are currently approximately 800,000 people in Ireland 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 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.
Free travel is provided for people in receipt of carer’s allowance to facilitate their caring role and support their social inclusion.
Children with disabilities may qualify for the domiciliary care allowance. This is a monthly payment of €309.50 to the carer of a child with a disability. The allowance may be used for the additional costs involved in caring for the child and this may include additional transport costs. On most transport services children under sixteen years of age are charged fares at special concessionary child rates.
Any decision to extend the free travel scheme to persons who are not in receipt of a primary qualifying payment would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.
21. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the analysis carried out of the impact the changes to the one-parent family allowance will have on poverty levels, deprivation and the level of employment among lone parents; and if she will reverse the decision to end payments to those whose youngest child is aged seven. [9375/15]
View answerThere are currently approximately 70,000 recipients of the One Parent Family Payment and it is expected that the scheme will cost €607 million in 2015.
Before I introduced the reforms, the One Parent Family Payment was a passive scheme with limited engagement by the State with recipients. For many lone parents, most of whom are women, this has meant long-term social welfare dependency, associated poverty and social exclusion for them and their families.
Social transfers have provided a hugely important buffer in reducing poverty. Expenditure on the scheme is estimated at €607 million in 2015 with almost 70,000 recipients. However, lone parents remain particularly at risk of poverty. This is not new. Lone parents have traditionally experienced higher rates of poverty than other groups. By contrast the poverty rates for those in work are very low.
This is why I believe that the reforms I have introduced are much needed. The best route out of poverty and social exclusion is through paid employment. I want to end the expectation that lone parents may remain outside of the workforce indefinitely. I want to support lone parents to develop their skills set and, ultimately to secure employment.
I have also made significant changes to the arrangements in place for affected customers as they transition. These include the introduction of the jobseeker’s allowance (JA) transitional arrangement which gives lone parents with young children the flexibility to work part time or engage in full time education, access to subsidised child care through the after school child care (ASCC) scheme and the community employment childcare (CEC) programme and the extension this week of OFP to all lone parents providing full-time care, until their youngest child is 16 years of age.
The Department of Social Protection has published an integrated social impact assessment of Budgets 2013, 2014 and 2015, using the ESRI SWITCH model.
The Government has committed itself to carrying out a social impact assessment of the main social welfare and tax measures for 2016 and subsequent years before the publishing of budgets. This will be conducted by a cross-Departmental body led by the Departments of Finance, Social Protection, and Public Expenditure and Reform.
There are no plans to reverse the final phase of the OFP reforms, which are currently underway.
22. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures that will be taken under the Action Plans for Jobs to assist those who are out of work for three years or more; if specific black spots have been identified with high levels of long-term unemployment; the way the State agencies will assist in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6270/15]
View answerThe Government’s primary strategy to reduce long-term unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. This strategy has been succeeding, with an increase of over 80,000 in employment over the last 2 years.
The Action Plan for Jobs is focused on stimulating employment growth; Pathways to Work on making sure that as many as possible of these new jobs, and other vacancies that arise in the economy, are filled by people who are unemployed jobseekers. Pathways to Work thus provides the overall framework for the Department of Social Protection’s response to the long-term unemployed.
Although long-term unemployment has fallen in line with the overall decline in unemployment, those who are very long-term unemployed continue to be of concern. The Pathways to Work strategy for 2015, in addition to ongoing reforms, therefore prioritises additional measures to enhance engagement with the long-term unemployed. This includes a structured process of engagement with the existing long-term unemployed that will see at least 8,300 long-term unemployed people being referred to the activation process (Group Engagement followed by regular one-to-one case officer contact) each month in early 2015. A new payment by results contract model with third party providers of employment services for the long-term unemployed, JobPath, will be rolled out by June 2015. It will provide additional capacity in order to engage more systematically with long-term unemployed jobseekers. Long-term unemployed youth 18-24 can avail of a new initiative, First Steps, a developmental internship programme which is a variant of the JobBridge Scheme. A minimum of 16,000 places for long-term unemployed jobseekers will also be provided through key public employment programmes.
57,000 Further Education and Training (FET) places will continue to be reserved for long-term unemployed jobseekers in 2015. My colleagues in the Department of Education and Skills, together with SOLAS and ETBs, are responsible for this area.
JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees from those who are long term on the live register. Since January 2015, eligibility for the lower level of subsidy has been broadened to include young jobseekers (aged 18-24) unemployed for four months or more and persons in a jobseekers allowance transitional arrangement.
Finally, there are a number of supports available for those unemployed who wish to start their own business. This includes the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) and Short-term Enterprise Allowance (STEA). Under the auspices of DJEI, micro-finance supports for young unemployed people wishing to start their own business are also available.
A Protocol between DSP, DJEI and the Enterprise Agencies was put in place to ensure that there are good working arrangements at local level to share information, cooperate on awareness and promotion activities, match enterprise needs for existing and new projects, engage on conversion and training needs, ensure companies can avail of Intreo placement services and agree monitoring and reporting arrangements for the overall levels of recruitment from the Live Register by Agency-assisted companies. Under Pathways to Work 2015, the operation of the protocol will be reviewed, and following that a report on its operation will be produced in the first half of the year.
In regard to the question of “blackspots”, the focus of policy on the individuals who are long-term unemployed inevitably also concentrates resources on the areas in which long-term unemployment is most heavily concentrated. There is, moreover, relatively limited variation in unemployment across areas and regions in Ireland when compared with other EU countries. For example, in late 2014 the proportion of those on the Live Register for more than three years was 27% for the State. This proportion ranged from 25% in the Mid-East and South-West regions to 29% in the South-East, Mid-West and Midlands regions.
23. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views that the indicators used by her Department to show labour market participation are of limited relevance for Ireland's youth and their opportunities to move on to paid employment, education or training; that the resources of her Department would be better used in actively ensuring those not in education, training or employment would have relevant transferable employability skills; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9360/15]
View answerThe official measures of employment, unemployment and labour force participation are sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). These measures are collected in line with practice throughout the EU, and are internationally comparable and robust. Reflecting the improvement in the labour market, youth unemployment continues to fall. For example, the seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate in Ireland as estimated by Eurostat was 21.6% in December 2014 as compared to 30.8% in December 2011.
The Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth and the availability of productive employment for young people. This strategy has been succeeding, with an increase of over 80,000 in employment over the last two years.
However, the Government recognises that as the recovery takes hold, there is a need for additional measures to ensure that as many as possible of the jobs created are taken up by jobseekers and by young jobseekers in particular. This is the rationale behind the Government’s Pathways to Work strategy and the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan.
As noted in the Implementation Plan, the vast majority of young people who are not in employment, education or training are identified as unemployed and registered with the Department of Social Protection.
The Youth Guarantee sets a medium-term objective of ensuring that such young people receive an offer of employment within four months of becoming unemployed. This will be delivered by changing the activation process to ensure that young people benefit from earlier and more frequent engagement with case officers, by earmarking places on existing employment and training programmes for young people and by introducing some new programmes such as FirstSteps and JobPlus Youth. FirstSteps aims to offer young people you are particularly distant from the labour market a work experience opportunity with sponsor employers. In line with the Youth Guarantee commitment, JobsPlus Youth offers employers who recruit a young person under 25 years of age who was unemployed for four months or more a subsidy of up to €416 per month. The duration unemployed threshold for other age cohorts is 12 months.
The department is also responsible for referring clients to further education and training (FET) and related programmes. My colleagues in the Department of Education and Skills have responsibility for these programmes.
The primary intent of all activation policies, including for the young unemployed, is on assistance in finding suitable employment. Where this is not possible in the short term, ensuring that participants have transferrable employability skills is a key focus of all programmes to which young people are referred.
24. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views that the JobBridge monitoring checklist is inadequate and fails to measure the quality of internships in a meaningful way. [9311/15]
View answerJobBridge has made significant progress since its introduction in July 2011. To date, over 37,700 internship placements having commenced, there are currently 6,140 interns on the programme and a further 1,129 positions are advertised on the JobBridge website.
Participation both as a host organisation and as an intern on the scheme is voluntary.
The Department has a range of monitoring and compliance measures in place.
JobBridge monitoring is conducted at all stages of an internship. Notably monthly online compliance forms must be completed by each host organisation and randomised on-site visits are conducted by officers of the Department throughout the course of the internship. Evaluation forms are sent to both the intern and the host organisation upon completion of an internship.
As part of the scheme criteria, host organisations are required to provide ongoing mentoring and to assign a named mentor to each intern. Compliance with this requirement is monitored through on-site visits by officers of the Department.
Interns, host organisation and members of the public who have concerns with an internship have, at all times, the dedicated JobBridge team, the established Departmental complaints system and the staff at the local Intreo centres available to them.
I am satisfied that these measures ensure a high quality internship experience for interns, prevent abuse of the scheme and eliminate it wherever identified.
25. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her Department has done an analysis of the impact of the reductions in child benefit on poverty and deprivation levels; if she will fully reverse cuts in child benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9372/15]
View answerChild Benefit is a universal payment made to families with children. It assists those families with the cost associated with raising children. It is paid to almost 1.2 million children in over 600,000 families. Expenditure on child benefit payments in 2014 was just over €1.9 billion. Altogether, the Department spends in the region of €3 billion in providing income support for children and families.
Child income supports and other social transfers are very effective in reducing child poverty. The 2013 CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions shows that social transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children from 45.5% to 17.9%, thereby lifting a quarter of all children out of poverty. This equates to a poverty reduction effect of 60.7% in 2013. Ireland is amongst the best performing member states in the EU in this regard.
The Department has published a social impact assessment of Budgets 2013, 2014 and 2015. Social impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology which estimates the likely effects of welfare and tax policies on households across income levels and social groups.
In Budget 2015, Government increased child benefit by €5 per month, at a cost of €72 million. Other child-specific measures included €22 million for the new back to work family dividend and an additional €2 million on the school meals programme.
The social impact assessment of Budget 2015 found that for the first time since the economic crisis, welfare and income tax policies will result in an increase in average household incomes of 0.7 per cent (equivalent of almost €6 per week), inclusive of the effect of the water charges. Furthermore, it found that households with children (earning and non-earning) generally gain more that those without children. There is no significant change in the at-risk-of-poverty rate though the income threshold increased, which suggests that social transfers continue to perform strongly in reducing poverty.
The economy is growing, unemployment is falling, and confidence is slowly returning. The Government has completed the first phase of the recovery and we are now starting the second: the process of restoring living standards, to ensure that everyone - every family, every community, will benefit from the recovery.
26. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the most recent comprehensive rent study that shows the highest year-on-year rent increases occurring in County Kildare (details supplied), and that such increases have increased pressure on an already critical number of persons struggling to attain accommodation within rent supplement limits; the measures she is proposing to address this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9336/15]
View answerThere are currently approximately 70,700 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015.
I am aware of the contents of the report “The Daft.ie Rental Report An analysis of recent trends in the Irish rental market 2014 - Year in Review” and the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand in the current market, including areas of County Kildare. The Department has undertaken a review of the maximum rent limits and raising rent limits may not be the solution to the problem as it is likely to stimulate further rental inflation and could impact, not alone on rent supplement recipients, but also on lower income workers and students.
The Department has measures in place to ensure that the housing needs of rent supplement customers at risk of homelessness are addressed by providing for increased flexibility within the administration of the rent supplement scheme. Notices circulated to Community Welfare Service staff reminding them of their discretionary power to award, on a case by case basis, a supplement for rental purposes in such circumstances in July and December 2014. A National Framework has also been developed to ensure that appropriate interventions continue to be provided in a consistent manner where rent supplement recipients have been threatened with homelessness due to rising rents.
The Department continues to monitor the measures in place to ensure that the appropriate supports are in place for rent supplement recipients and the Interim Tenancy Sustainment protocol operating in Dublin has being extended to include single persons and couples and to Cork city during 2015. The Department’s response to the current difficulties in the private rented market remains under close review.
27. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the extent to which she continues to monitor rent levels in counties Kildare, Meath, Dublin and Wicklow, with particular reference to the need to ensure that families affected by rent increases and dependent on private rental accommodation in lieu of local authority housing, and/or families who may become homeless arising from repossessions by lenders, are sufficiently protected by way of increased rent support to minimise the risk of homelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9292/15]
View answerThere are approximately 70,700 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015.
I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand in the current private rented market in Dublin and surrounding commuter counties. The Department’s response to the current difficulties remains under close review and measures have been put in place to ensure that the housing needs of rent supplement customers who are at risk of homelessness are supported.
The policy response provides for increased flexibility within the administration of the rent supplement scheme. Notices were circulated to all Community Welfare Service staff reminding them of their discretionary power to award, on a case by case basis, a supplement for rental purposes in cases of threatened homelessness in July and December 2014. A National Framework has also been developed to ensure that appropriate supports continue to be provided throughout the country in a consistent manner.
The Interim Tenancy Sustainment Protocol, introduced in the Dublin region during 2014, has assisted approximately 380 families to date through increased rental payments and has recently being extended to include single persons and couples. The Protocol was also extended to Cork city in January 2015.
As outlined in the Action Plan to address homelessness, my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, has committed to meet with the various stakeholders, including the financial institutions, to discuss what measures can be taken with regard to encumbered “Buy to Let” properties and those in receivership.
28. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will report on her review with regard to the possible loss of earnings of up to €86 per week for a person in receipt of the one-parent family payment and the half-rate carer's allowance; if that person is required to move to a full-rate carer's allowance due to the changes to the one-parent family payment scheduled for July 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9387/15]
View answerI am very happy to confirm my announcement this week that I will be extending eligibility for the one-parent family payment (OFP) to lone parents who are also eligible for the half-rate carer’s allowance (CA) payment, until their youngest child is aged 16 years. This acknowledges the special situation for lone parents who are caring and, in particular, acknowledges the commitment of lone parents who are caring for people other than their own child – such as a parent or sibling who requires full-time care and attention.
The OFP scheme already provides for lone parents who are caring for children under 16 years of age, and who are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance (DCA) and a half-rate carer’s allowance payment in conjunction with their OFP. This entitlement is not affected by the ongoing changes to the OFP scheme. This change now provides the same level of support to those caring for someone other than their own child.
I have had the privilege of meeting many lone parents since I became Minister for Social Protection some of whom are also carers. I am therefore, also extending these new rules to individuals who are caring and become a new lone parent or existing lone parents who become carers.
This is expected to impact positively on approximately 1,800 individuals including the 800 individuals who were due to be affected on 2 July, 2015. The balance are individuals who previously lost entitlement since July 2013 or lone parents who will qualify for OFP for the first time when their youngest child is seven years of age or older provided they are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance.
29. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to review the operation of the JobBridge scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9207/15]
View answerJobBridge has made significant progress since its introduction in July 2011. To date, over 37,700 internship placements having commenced, there are currently 6,140 interns on the programme and a further 1,129 positions are advertised on the JobBridge website.
The Department intends to undertake quantitative evaluations of a number of programmes, including JobBridge, through econometric analysis of post-programme outcomes for participants and as compared with outcomes for control groups of similar non-participants.
It is intended to conduct these evaluations during 2015.
30. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her targets for expenditure on social protection, as a proportion of gross domestic product; the latest figures for Irish expenditure on that matrix; the way it compares to the European Union average; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9124/15]
View answerThe 2015 Revised Estimates Volume provides for expenditure of €19.378 billion by the Department this year. This equates to 10% of projected GDP. The expenditure ceilings for future years will reflect some adjustments to take into account the estimated impacts of further improvements in labour market conditions on Live Register expenditure. Final determination of these ceilings will be made by Government in line with the fiscal rules under the Stability and Growth Pact.
Eurostat collates data on general government expenditure under the social protection function (as defined under EU law under the European system of accounts). This wider definition encompasses all general government expenditure on social protection, including expenditure on public sector pensions (but not private occupational pensions), and as such, is not comparable to the data presented above. However, it is the definitive source for EU social protection expenditure.
In 2012, which is the most recent data available, Ireland spent 16.4% of GDP on social protection as defined under EU law. This compared to an average of 19.9% in the EU-28.
