Written Answers Nos. 46 - 56
47. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will reverse the discriminatory cuts to social protection payments to young adults under 25 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28733/16]
View answerReduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009 and were further extended in subsequent budgets and apply to jobseekers under 26 years of age.
These measures were introduced as they were considered to protect young people from welfare dependency by providing young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment. Should a young jobseeker on a reduced jobseeker’s allowance payment participate on an education or training programme they will receive a higher weekly payment of €160.
Youth unemployment rose rapidly in the recession to over 30% in 2012. According to the Quarterly National Household Survey for Quarter 2 2016, youth unemployment fell by 3.4% to 19% as compared to Quarter 2 2015.
The Youth Guarantee sets a medium-term objective of ensuring that all young people receive an offer of employment within four months of becoming unemployed. The main plank of the guarantee is assistance to young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs, through earlier and enhanced engagement processes.
Reserved places on a number of programmes and youth-oriented variants of existing schemes have also been rolled out. Overall, young people took up just over 19,000 Youth Guarantee-related programme places in 2015. These numbers exclude an estimated 24,000 places provided for young people through PLC courses and apprenticeships.
Other EU and OECD countries adopt a similar targeted approach in terms of young jobseekers receiving a reduced social welfare payment. The aim is to encourage and support our young people to engage in education and training in order to reduce the risk that they may drift into welfare dependency. For obvious reasons this needs to be avoided as welfare dependency will have severe long term consequences for those affected and for the economy as a whole.
49. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the initiatives being taken by the Government to protect unaccompanied minors in Calais following the announcement that the camp is to be demolished by the end of the year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29044/16]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my response to Parliamentary Question No. 76 of 5 October 2016 in which I set out the position on unaccompanied minors in Calais.
50. Deputy Brendan Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the activity levels on the employers’ helpline supporting the comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities; the number of calls handled and the costs incurred; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29132/16]
View answerThe employer helpline and support initiative is a three year pilot programme which was established at the end of 2015 to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities. The aim of the programme is to provide advice and guidance to employers on employing people with disabilities, and to support staff with disabilities. It is hoped that the helpline will facilitate an increase in the number of persons with disabilities in employment. The programme is being delivered by a consortium comprising ISME, IBEC and the Chambers of Commerce.
The programme is still in its first year and accordingly, activities to date have included the setting up of a website and helpline, appointing a co-ordinator, and delivering a number of seminars and briefings for employer networks.
There were 50 calls and email queries during the period from February to September 2016.
The budget for the three years of the programme will be approximately €300,000. Expenditure for the programme to date is as follows:
2015: €31,584.50
2016 (to end Sept): €25,000.00
Further information can be found at the helpline's website which is www.employerdisabilityinfo.ie.
51. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the funding that has been applied for and utilised under the European Social Fund and skills agenda to facilitate offenders in on-site training and ex-offenders with skills in order to rehabilitate them for work once out of the probation services nationally per county and level and topic of education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28999/16]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, funding is provided by my Department through the Probation Service to a range of Community Based Organisations (CBO's) to develop and deliver services for offenders in their communities. The services provided include training and education, offender management programmes, residential accommodation and drug and alcohol abuse treatment programmes. The CBO's offer a service to offenders who might otherwise not be in a position to avail of a mainstream opportunity.
In 2015, one adult CBO and four Young Persons Probation CBOs were included in the European Social Fund Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014 -2020, which is part supported by the State.
The adult CBO is Tus Nua, which is a specialised service supporting homeless women on release from prison or women with an offending background whose main aim is to facilitate resettlement and reintegration. This is located in Dublin.
The four Young Persons Probation CBOs are:
- Le Cheile, which is a nationwide volunteer mentoring and family support service;
- Ceim ar Cheim and the Southill project which are both based in Limerick City and target educational needs and promote pro-social lifestyles;
- The Dochas don Óige project which is based in Galway and provides educational and training needs for young persons.
€2.4m was applied for the Tus Nua project under PEIL 2014-2020, of which €1.2m can be claimed back under the European Social Fund. €11.64m was applied for the Young Persons Probation projects under PEIL 2014-2020, of which €5.82m can be claimed back under the European Social Fund.
52. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if an application for residency by a person (details supplied) will be expedited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29000/16]
View answerI am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned made an application for a residence card, under the provisions of the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015 on 9 June, 2016.
I am further informed that INIS has experienced an unprecedented and sustained increase in such applications since 2015. While every effort is made to process applications as soon as possible, processing times are approximately 9 months from receipt of application. In recognition of this INIS, by way of letter dated 12 July, 2016, granted the person's family member temporary permission to reside in the State, on Stamp 4 conditions, up to 8 March, 2017 pending a decision on the case. Insofar as the question of expediting the application is concerned, the Deputy will appreciate that, in the interest of fairness to all applicants, all such applications are dealt with in chronological order.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
53. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if there has been any progress in the investigation by An Garda Síochána into the bombing in Belturbet, County Cavan, on 28 December 1972 which resulted in the death of two teenagers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29005/16]
View answerThe bombing at Belturbet, Co. Cavan in December 1972 took the lives of two innocent young people. It was an appalling and utterly unjustified act of violence that, like so many others, characterised a dark period in the history of this island. My deepest sympathies go to the families who were bereaved by this atrocity.
I am informed by the Garda Authorities that the bombing at Belturbet and the two deaths caused by it were the subject of a thorough investigation at the time by An Garda Síochána, with expert assistance provided by the Army. The investigations at that time involved close liaison with the authorities in Northern Ireland in an effort to bring the perpetrators to justice. However, although every avenue of inquiry open to the investigation was pursued at that time there was no evidence to bring those responsible for this crime to justice. It remains a source of disappointment that no one has yet been brought to justice for these murders.
I am informed by the Garda Authorities that the investigation into these murders remains open. While regrettably it is the case that with the passage of over 40 years and in the absence of any new evidence emerging, one must be realistic about the prospects of successful prosecutions, it is nonetheless the case that Garda Authorities will pursue fully any new information or evidence that is made available and would work with the PSNI to seek to progress the investigation in those circumstances. I call on anyone who has any relevant information in respect of these events to bring it to the attention of the Garda Authorities.
54. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date in determination of eligibility for stamp 4 in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29018/16]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned applied for a right of residency, accompanied by a right to work, based on parentage of an Irish citizen child. The application was received in the relevant Section of INIS in February, 2016. INIS is in correspondence with the person concerned to seek clarification on some issues: a reply is awaited.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
55. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff by grade in her Department allocated to process applications for residence cards under the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29021/16]
View answer56. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff by grade in her Department that are assigned to process applications in respect of Irish nationalisation and immigration applications; the number of staff allocated to each individual office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29022/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 56 together.
I am advised that, at the end of September 2016, the overall staff allocation to Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) was 687 (649 full time equivalent). Staff are deployed across a wide range of activities including the broad areas of asylum and immigration processing, visa processing, border management and policy areas of the organisation. In that context, the management of resources is kept under constant review having regard to business and operational requirements, and staff are deployed accordingly.
The Deputy will appreciate that, given the nature of the work involved and the need to allow for flexibility in the assignment and prioritisation of tasks at peak times for the service, it has not been possible to isolate the number of staff assigned solely to processing activities, or specifically to the processing of individual application types such as residence cards under the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015. The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the staff by grade in each office is set out in the table. It should be noted that the numbers specified in the tables for Clerical Officers (CO) includes staff recruited as Temporary Clerical Officers. These staff are employed on a fixed term contract basis to cover temporary vacancies and short term staffing needs.
|
Grade |
INIS |
Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner |
Refugee Appeals Tribunal |
Reception & Integration Agency |
|
A/Sec |
1 |
- |
||
|
PO |
10 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
AP |
20 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
|
HEO |
51 |
26 |
3 |
5 |
|
AO |
1 |
|||
|
EO |
126 |
29 |
5 |
5 |
|
SO |
8 |
4 |
1 |
|
|
CO |
283 |
39 |
23 |
7 |
|
SVO |
9 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
|
Total |
509 |
116 |
38 |
24 |
