Written Answers Nos. 1-23
8. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the proceedings of the interdepartmental working group set up to examine and report on the current and future operation of the free travel scheme; her position in relation to the removal of the cap on the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23472/15]
View answerThe free travel scheme provides free travel for those with eligibility on the main public and private transport services which includes road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann, Luas and services provided by over 90 private transport operators. There are currently approximately 828,000 customers with direct eligibility with an annual allocation of €77 million. In 2012, along with the then Minister for Transport Tourism and Sport, I established an interdepartmental working group to review the free travel scheme. The purpose of the review was to examine and report on the current operation and future development of the free travel scheme. Owing to the range of policy changes implemented since its establishment, the scheme is now universally available to all persons permanently living in the State aged 66 and over as well as carers in receipt of carers allowance and certain others such as persons in receipt of disability allowance and invalidity pension. I understand that the interdepartmental group has concluded its work and I expect to see a copy of its review shortly.
With respect to the cap on funding imposed by the previous Government under the National Recovery Plan, 2011-2014, while no additional funding for free travel was provided for in Budget 2015, the Government has taken no specific decision to extend the freeze and in the “Statement of Government Priorities, 2014-2016” the Government committed itself to the full retention of the free travel scheme.
11. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in view of the criticism of the changes to the one-parent family payment scheme by children's advocacy groups, if she will revise her plans to progress with the changes to the scheme, which will affect lone parents with children over seven years of age. [24828/15]
View answerI welcome the considerable debate generated by this reform, which is long overdue. As I said earlier, despite committing extensive funding to lone parent payments since the 1970s, lone parents remain the most at-risk-of-poverty, and their children are at a high risk of poverty. For too long, significant numbers of lone parents have been typecast, and confined to social welfare dependency. The best route out of poverty and social exclusion is through paid employment. The purpose of the reform of the one parent family payment is to maximise the opportunities for lone parents to enter into and increase employment. The reforms seek to address the long-term social welfare dependency and poverty experienced by many lone parents by providing them with improved access to the Department’s range of education, training, and employment supports, such as back to education allowance, back to work enterprise allowance and community employment. In addition, I was pleased to introduce the back to work family dividend in the last Budget. This provides a significant incentive for families with children to move into employment, as recently reported by the ESRI.
Access to these services and supports is imperative for lone parents, in order to ensure that their prospects of securing employment and financial independence are improved.
Any reversal of these reforms would delay this critical interaction between lone parents and the Department’s Intreo services and would potentially increase the barriers they face to entering employment in the future.
I therefore have no plans to reverse the forthcoming changes to the one parent family payment.
However, I look forward to examining the various supports available to all families with children, including single parent families, in the next Budget. In particular, I will look at the scope for improvements in the child benefit, as well as other supports for families in part-time or full-time employment.
12. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she is in favour of extending social welfare entitlements to the self-employed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24674/15]
View answerThere are approximately 360,000 self-employed contributors including business owners, contractors, taxi drivers and farmers. These self-employed pay PRSI at the class S rate of 4%. This entitles them to access long-term benefits including State pension (contributory). A combined employer and employee PRSI rate of 14.75% is paid in respect of most employees, who can access the full range of social insurance benefits. The most recent Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund published in 2012 found that a 15% contribution rate would be needed to provide the core full-rate State pension (contributory), to the self-employed. This compares very favourably with the 4% rate currently paid by the self-employed. In its 2013 report the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare found that almost 9 out of every 10 self-employed people who claimed the means tested jobseeker’s allowance during the three-year period from 2009 to 2011 received payment. Therefore, it was not convinced that there was a need for the extension of social insurance for the self-employed to provide cover for jobseeker’s benefit.
However, the Group found that extending social insurance for the self-employed was warranted in cases related to long term sickness or injuries, through the invalidity pension and the partial capacity benefit schemes. In this regard the Group recommended that the rate of contribution for class S should be increased by at least 1.5 percentage points, payable on a compulsory basis only.
I am anxious to see the level of entitlement for the self-employed improve but any such change will need to be funded through an appropriate level of contribution.
13. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to address the significant recent increases in the number of persons suffering deprivation and poverty, particularly child poverty and poverty among lone parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24837/15]
View answerThe official measure of poverty as used in the national social target for poverty reduction is consistent poverty - the combination of at-risk-of-poverty and basic deprivation. The rate of consistent poverty in 2013 was 8.2%, which was not a statistically significant change on 2012. The 2014 results are expected at the end of 2015. One of the component measures of consistent poverty is at-risk-of-poverty. This fell from 16.5% in 2012 to 15.2% in 2013. A key reason for this fall is the enhanced impact of social transfers in reducing income poverty. In 2013, social transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children from 45.5% to 17.9%; thereby lifting over a quarter of the population of children out of income poverty. This is equivalent to a poverty reduction effect of 61%. Ireland is the best performing EU member state in reducing poverty through social transfers.
Tackling poverty among children and families is a Government priority. The Government is implementing a whole-of-government, multi-dimensional approach to tackling the issue of child poverty.
A key way to tackle child poverty, and lone parent poverty, is to get parents back to work. The ongoing one parent family payment reforms and the new back to work family dividend - which I introduced in Budget 2015 - will support parents to take up and remain in employment, especially those furthest from the labour market.
In addition, as I said earlier, I look forward to examining the various supports available to all families with children, including single parent families, in the next Budget. In particular, I will look at the scope for further improvements in the child benefit, as well as other supports for families in part-time or full-time employment.
14. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if the JobsPlus scheme and other related schemes are reviewed annually; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24627/15]
View answerJobsPlus was designed to provide a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit long-term unemployed employees from the live register. At the end of May 2015, the Department had made year to date payments of €8.25 million to almost 3,600 employers in respect of 4,900 employees. Two levels of payment are provided - €7,500 or €10,000 over two years – provided the employment is maintained. The rate of payment depends on the length of time the person is unemployed. Since 2015, the scheme has been expanded to include those transitioning into employment from the one-parent family payment scheme, and short-term unemployed young people via the Youth Guarantee. A review of the pilot phase of JobsPlus, covering the first year of its operation (from July 2013 to June 2014), confirmed that the aim of putting in place an easily identifiable and user-friendly scheme targeted at employers had been achieved. It also found that over 60% of jobseekers, more than 24 months on the live register, have benefitted from the initiative, contrary to expectations prior to the introduction of the initiative. The review noted that the average level of subsidy paid at the end of June 2014 amounted to just under €374 per employee per month and that there was a net benefit to the Exchequer from each employee maintained in employment.
In line with commitments made in the context of Pathways to Work, the Department recently looked at the first 18 months of operations of JobsPlus. This confirmed that the findings from the earlier review remain valid. I propose to publish the outcome of the reviews in the coming weeks.
15. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans for changes in the rent allowance caps, in view of the continuing upward spiral in private rents, and the way this is contributing to rising homelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24841/15]
View answerRent supplement plays a vital role in supporting 68,000 families and individuals at a cost of €298 million. Over 5,600 claims have been awarded in 2015, of which almost 1,600 are in Dublin. The Department’s recent review of rent limits points out that the main cause of difficulty for persons renting and seeking to rent is the reduced availability of affordable private rented accommodation. In this regard, the Government will deliver significantly increased supply of social and affordable housing through the Construction 2020 Strategy and the Social Housing Strategy. My colleague Minister Alan Kelly announced recently the first major direct build social housing programme with the kick-starting of over 100 separate housing projects. The move is part of the first phase of direct-build under the Government’s social housing strategy. €312 million has been approved by the Minister which will see an additional 1,700 social housing units come on stream by 2017 with an estimated 3,000 additional jobs in construction created.
The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, has also advised his intention to bring proposals on rent certainty to Government before the summer recess.
In addition, my Department has implemented preventative measures to provide for flexibility in assessing customers’ accommodation needs through the National Tenancy Sustainment Framework. Under this approach, tenant’s circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis and rents are being increased above prescribed limits. The Department also works with Threshold’s Tenancy Sustainment service in Dublin and Cork city where supply is most acute. This flexible approach has already assisted over 2,100 rent supplement households nationwide, of which 1,400 are in Dublin, through increased rent payments.
Where Department staff are notified of a threat of tenancy loss the preventative measures are implemented as appropriate. The Department has also undertaken a communications campaign to encourage people at risk to avail of these measures to prevent an unnecessary episode of homelessness. I am continuing to keep this matter under review.
16. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason persons under 25 years of age are excluded from taking part in the part-time job incentive scheme, and her plans for expanding this scheme to younger persons as part of the Youth Guarantee. [24785/15]
View answerThe part-time job incentive scheme is a scheme, which allows people who are long-term unemployed to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a special weekly income supplement. The scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in 1986 and extended nationwide in 1988. The scheme was seen as a form of enticement to those who lacked an incentive to take up employment. Participants in this scheme are expected to continue to make efforts to find full-time work. There are currently 381 participants on the scheme with a budget of just under €2 million for 2015.
To qualify for the part-time job incentive scheme a person must be in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for at least 390 days. In addition, to qualify a person must have been in receipt of a higher jobseeker's payment than the appropriate part-time job incentive supplement payable, which is €119 per week for a single person and €193.90 per week where an individual was getting an increase for a qualified adult.
The scheme is not designed for young jobseekers but for the long-term unemployed. Policy for under twenty five year olds is addressed by the Youth Guarantee which sets a medium-term objective of ensuring that young people 18-25 receive an offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.
17. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection whether she has had any meetings or discussions with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in relation to securing a percentage of the proceeds of the sale of the State's shareholding in Aer Lingus to offset some of the financial hardship being experienced by existing and deferred members of the Irish Airlines (General Employees) Superannuation Scheme. [24630/15]
View answerI am very aware of the issues and negative consequences arising from the funding difficulties in this scheme. Indeed, many defined benefit pension schemes have encountered funding difficulties in recent years and are working with the Pensions Authority to respond to those difficulties in a manner which will secure the sustainability of pension provision for scheme members.
A number of legislative changes have been put in place in recent years to assist employers and the trustees of pension scheme respond to the funding difficulties encountered by some schemes. You will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to comment on matters arising in a particular scheme as these are primarily a matter for the Trustees of the scheme, the companies participating in the scheme, the scheme members and the Pensions Authority.
The sale of the Aer Lingus shareholding was approved by Government on 27 May. The proceeds from any sale of the State's shareholding in Aer Lingus would be payable directly to the Central Fund and the use of such funds is a budgetary decision for the Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
18. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her response to the annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman 2014 regarding the cases involving her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24783/15]
View answerI welcome the publication of the Office of the Ombudsman 2014 annual report. The Ombudsman provides a valuable and essential service in ensuring that all citizens have an independent and accessible channel to raise complaints about State services.
The number of complaints received in respect of the Department of Social Protection (DSP), increased to 898 in 2014 from 491 in 2013. However seen in the context of the scale of DSP business, which in 2014 included 84.8 million scheme payments made, more than 1.1 million control reviews carried out and some 8.1 million telephone calls answered, the overall statistics are a very positive indication of service. Many of the complaints received about the Department are dealt with expeditiously, sometimes over the phone.
The annual report shows that of the DSP cases completed in 2014, 106 were upheld, but 255 were not upheld. In addition, a substantial number were discontinued as premature.
As the Ombudsman has stated, given the nature and scale of the DSP services the number of complaints is not disproportionate.
The report also specifically references five DSP case studies. These concerned an overpayment, a bereavement grant, two habitual residence condition (HRC) decisions and a rent supplement case. Four of these cases were resolved through a revised decision of the Social Welfare Appeals Office where additional information was available and in the other case a revised decision issued by DSP.
As the circumstances of each case is different, it is not always possible to draw general conclusions which are applicable in other cases. However, in the bereavement grant case drew attention to an error, and following this case the Department put new structures in place to avoid a recurrence.
In relation to the overpayment case, it is important to point out that where substantial debts are owed to the State, there is an obligation on the Department to make best efforts to collect them. However in this case the Chief Appeals Officer ruled that the repayment should not be sought in the light of the medical circumstances and evidence submitted.
19. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to reverse the cuts to the one-parent family payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24803/15]
View answerExpenditure on the One Parent Family Payment (OFP) scheme is estimated to be €607 million in 2015 with almost 70,000 recipients. However, despite considerable investment, the scheme has not succeeded in preventing lone parents from being significantly more at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole. In 2004, at the height of the economic boom, lone parents were more than four and a half times at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole. Before the reforms to the scheme, lone parents could have been on the scheme until their youngest child turned 18, or 22 if they were in full-time education.
This is why I believe that the reforms I have introduced are much needed as they are moving us away from providing passive income support over a long period towards an active, engagement approach.
The reforms seek to address the long-term social welfare dependency and poverty experienced by many lone parents by providing them with improved access to the Department’s range of education, training, and employment supports. Access to these services and supports is imperative for lone parents, in order to ensure that their prospects of securing employment and financial independence are improved.
Any reversal of these reforms would delay this critical interaction between lone parents and the Department’s Intreo services and would potentially increase the barriers they face to entering employment in the future.
I therefore have no plans to reverse the forthcoming changes to the one parent family payment.
20. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she has carried out an analysis of the impact of her changes to the farm assist scheme with respect to the effect of income disregards on farmers; if she will reconsider the changes she has made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24634/15]
View answerThe farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2015 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure of almost €89 million on the farm assist scheme in 2015. All recipients of farm assist benefitted from the Christmas Bonus in December, 2014. All recipients with children are benefitting from the increase in child benefit announced in Budget 2015. Changes introduced in Budgets 2012 and 2013 have brought farm assist into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s treatment of self-employed persons. However, farm families with the lowest income will be least affected by these changes as the headline rates of farm assist have been maintained.
The assessment of means for the farm assist scheme 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. Account is taken of any exceptional circumstances so as to ensure that the assessment accurately reflects the current situation. Any farmer experiencing lower levels of income can ask for a review of their means.
As part of the normal budget process, all potential budget measures, including proposals relating to the farm assist scheme, are assessed in terms of the impact they would have. The scheme is kept under ongoing review by my officials, including regular discussions with the IFA. There are no plans to change the current scheme criteria.
21. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she is aware of any investigation by the Pensions Authority into the Irish airlines superannuation scheme. [24631/15]
View answerThe Pensions Act 1990 provides for the regulation of occupational pension schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts. The Pensions Authority is an independent regulator responsible for supervising the compliance of pension schemes with the Act. Section 18 provides that the Authority has the power to carry out investigations into alleged breaches of the Pensions Act. Neither I nor my Department would be party to any such investigations and I have not received a report on any such investigation.
I would advise the Deputy to formally bring any concerns relating to the management of the IASS pension fund to the attention of the Pensions Authority.
22. Deputy Frank Feighan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures the Government has in place to discourage persons coming into the country and falsely claiming benefit; the measures in place to stop so-called sham marriages that enable persons to qualify falsely for benefit; the success rate to date; if this is an increasing or decreasing problem. [24633/15]
View answerThe issue of marriages of convenience or so-called 'sham marriages' is a complex one. The right to marry is a basic right and marriage, as an institution, has particular protection under the Constitution. The State’s duty is to protect the institution of marriage in legislation. EU citizens and their families have the right to move and reside freely within the territories of the Member States. These rights also apply to non-EU national spouses of EU nationals following the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Metock case in 2008. The Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 includes provisions aimed at making it more difficult to broker a marriage of convenience in the State. The Act defines ‘marriage of convenience’ as 'a marriage where at least one of the parties to the marriage— (a) at the time of entry into the marriage is a foreign national, and (b) enters into the marriage solely for the purpose of securing an immigration advantage for at least one of the parties to the marriage'.
The legislation which was enacted in December 2014 has not yet been commenced. The provisions of the Act will be put into operation by an implementation plan involving both procedural and system changes. It is intended that these will be finalised as soon as possible. Discussions with the Department of Justice and Equality with regard to the cross-Departmental co-operation required to ensure that this issue is addressed effectively have been taking place, as part of the implementation plan.
Entitlement to certain social assistance payments and child benefit is conditional on a residence requirement, independent of nationality, which ensures a genuine connection between the applicant for or recipient of such schemes and the State.
The Habitual Residence Condition (HRC) was first introduced in Ireland in 2004 and amended in subsequent years, most recently in 2014. The HRC is provided for in Irish legislation, in accordance with EU legislation and with European Court of Justice jurisprudence.
Deciding Officers and Designated Persons, when determining whether a person is habitually resident in the State for social welfare purposes, will take into consideration all of the person’s circumstances including the person's length and continuity of residence in Ireland or in any other particular country, length and purpose of any absence from Ireland, nature and pattern of employment, main centre of interest and future intentions as they appear from all the circumstances.
The emphasis in the Department’s Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy is on preventing fraud and error from entering the system in the first place. In the context of persons coming into the country and falsely claiming benefit, the Department is continuing to develop and enhance cross-border and transnational structures and liaison to ensure that there is effective co-operation to prevent and detect social security fraud across national boundaries. The Department also has an ongoing relationship with the Irish National Immigration Service (INIS) and Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB). Two Departmental inspectors are assigned to the GNIB on a full-time basis. Case by case information exchanges and data-matching takes places between INIS/GNIB and DSP on a systematic basis.
A number of other measures should also be noted. The Social Welfare Act 2012 made provision for social welfare inspectors to undertake power of enquiry at airports where social welfare fraud is suspected. In addition, from the beginning of December 2014, 20 Gardaí have been seconded to the Department’s Special Investigation Unit. These officers will ensure a greater presence on the ground and will increase the investigative capacity of the Department to prevent, detect and deter social welfare fraud.
Where fraud is discovered it is important that there are appropriate sanctions in place. In this context, it is the Department's policy to consider for prosecution cases of fraud against the social welfare system.
23. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the cost implications in increasing the maximum income limit of subsidiary employment from €12.70 per day to €25 per day; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24788/15]
View answerIn certain circumstances it is possible for a person to be engaged in insurable employment or self-employment and still satisfy the unemployment condition. One of these circumstances is where the person has what is defined as ‘subsidiary employment’. The provisions for subsidiary employment are set out in social welfare regulations. Subsidiary employments are employments that are considered secondary, for insurance purposes, to the principal employment.
To be considered as subsidiary employment under social welfare regulations the relevant employment should be in addition to the jobseeker’s usual employment. It must have been followed by them outside the ordinary working hours of their usual employment. The limit of eligible earnings or profit from the occupation cannot exceed €12.70 per day, or, where the level of eligible earnings or profit is in respect of a longer period, it does not on a daily average exceed €12.70 per day.
The Department does not keep statistics on the number of jobseekers with subsidiary employment. It is therefore not possible to gauge the cost implications for the State of increasing the current limit of eligible earnings for those engaging in subsidiary employment from €12.70 to €25.
