Written Answers Nos. 324-337
324. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will address concerns that persons eligible for the €5 pension increase may subsequently become ineligible for supplementary welfare payments; the number of pension recipients who may fall into this category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11599/17]
View answerI understand that the Deputy is referring to the impact of the Budget 2017 increase on those in receipt of diet supplement, administered under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme. Diet supplement is a means tested payment payable to qualifying persons, in receipt of the supplement prior to February 2014, who have been prescribed a special diet as a result of a specified medical condition. There are currently 3,400 in receipt of diet supplement at a cost of €4.6 million in 2017.
Following the outcome of a review of the costs of healthy eating and specialised diets by the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute commissioned by the Department in 2013, the scheme is closed to new applicants since February 2014. In cases of particular hardship, officials continue to have the legislative power to award a SWA payment in cases of exceptional need.
When the diet supplement was abolished for new applicants, existing recipients continued to receive the supplement at the current rate of payment for as long as they continue to have an entitlement to the scheme or until their circumstances change. Arrangements are being put in place so that the effect of the Budget 2017 increase on weekly social welfare payments will not impact on the payment of diet supplement.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
325. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection when community employment projects are being amalgamated; the reason assistant supervisors are not being approved to supervise larger projects; the reason little notice or consultation was carried out with sponsors and supervisors of schemes prior to changes made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11778/17]
View answerFrom time to time situations arise where Community Employment (CE) schemes amalgamate. In general a new sponsoring body is formed and it is a decision for the new sponsoring body as to what supervision arrangements are to be put in place (within the procedural framework of CE). My Department makes funding available for supervisory support. This grant support must be applied for by the sponsor with a detailed job description. The level of supervision required depends on the circumstances pertaining on a particular scheme.
It should be noted that the average supervisor to participant ratio is less than 17:1 which is well below the average approved level of 25:1.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
326. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to changes to job specification and terms and conditions for community employment supervisors due to larger numbers of participants per project; if his attention has been further drawn to the ongoing changes to the community employment manual yet no pay increases have been carried out to reflect this since 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11779/17]
View answerThe Community Employment (CE) Sponsoring Organisations are the legal employers of Community Employment Supervisors. CE supervisors have benefited from pay increases linked to all phases of Benchmarking, Sustaining Progress (Parts 1 and 2) and Towards 2016 (all 4 phases) in the past, and have experienced no reduction in pay over recent years.
There have been no significant changes to the community employment manual in the last number of years and in addition the average supervisor to participant ratio is less than 17:1 which is well below the average approved level of 25:1.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
327. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Protection the details of any pension schemes, occupational, private or public, which have requirements that potential payees under the widow's benefits element be notified before a certain time, such as under a gold digger clause, that may allow for same-sex couples to be denied succession rights on a pension due to the short timeframe since the Marriage Act 2015, in tabular form. [11796/17]
View answerThere is no age criteria attached to the widow's, widower's and surviving civil partner’s pension, or criteria requiring such a marriage or civil partnership to have been entered into before a certain age. Provided a person was legally married or in a civil partnership at the time of the bereavement, and provided the other conditions such as PRSI are met, a person may qualify for a payment.
As regards the State pension, a pensioner’s partner may qualify for an Increase for a Qualified Adult if they are wholly or mainly maintained by them. This payment can be made regardless of whether they are married, in a civil partnership, or simply cohabiting. A cohabitant is one of two adults (whether of the same or opposite sex) who live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship and who are not close relatives.
Private pension schemes (such as occupational pension scheme) are matters for pension scheme members, their employers, and the scheme trustees. My Department does not hold records of individual pension schemes and their rules (such as any “gold digger clause” in specific pension schemes). Therefore I cannot provide the information sought in tabular form.
Under the provisions of the Pensions Act, persons in civil partnerships, in same sex marriages or in opposite sex marriages are treated equally. Broadly speaking, pension scheme rules may provide :-
- That spousal pension benefits will be paid where the member is married at the point of retirement;
- That spousal pension benefits will be paid where the member is married at the point of death;
Under 1, where a same sex couple marry subsequent to the member's retirement, no pension would be payable. This also applies to an opposite sex couple, so there is no breach of the principle of equal pensions treatment.
Under 2, where a same sex couple marry subsequent to retirement, but before the member's death, a spousal pension would be payable. This would also be the case for a same sex couple.
Any changes to pension scheme rules would be required to apply equally to persons in civil partnerships, in same sex marriages or in opposite sex marriages.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
328. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Social Protection when he will announce the reforms to the community employment and Gateway schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11807/17]
View answer341. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will confirm or deny recent reports that employment schemes such as Tús and Gateway aimed at getting persons back to work face being cut (details supplied) as part of cost saving measures; the proposals in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11977/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 328 and 341 together.
Community Employment (CE), Tús, Gateway and the Rural Social Scheme are part of the Department’s range of programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. The schemes are designed to break the cycle of unemployment and maintain work readiness, thereby improving a person’s opportunities of returning to the labour market.
Tús was introduced as a direct response to the growth in the level of unemployment during the financial crisis. As the economic recovery takes hold and the overall level of unemployment continues to fall, my Department recognises the need to adapt these schemes to the changing circumstances, opportunities and the needs of jobseekers. With this in mind, my Department undertook an analysis of the CE programme and while the primary focus was on that scheme, the review also looked at other employment programmes such as Tús and Gateway and made a number of recommendations in relation to the operation of these schemes.
I recently brought a Memo to Government and obtained approval to publish the review report and to progress a number of recommendations. I will be publishing the review report shortly.
As part of the roll out of any new measures, my Department will be consulting with key stakeholders. The nature and format of the consultation process are being finalised at present.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.
329. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount paid in subventions from his Department to Bus Éireann for the past five years to date in 2017, by scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11857/17]
View answerMy Department pays the CIE Group centrally in respect of transport services provided nationwide for the free travel scheme by the Group and the apportionment of payment between the three constituent companies, Bus Eireann, Bus Atha Cliath and Iarnród Eireann is a matter for the CIE Group to determine. In this context my Department has had no role to date in determining the amount specifically directed to Bus Éireann.
The following are details of payments to the CIE Group in respect of the free travel scheme.
|
- |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
2013 |
2012 |
|
CIE |
€61,400,861.94 |
€60,951,683.05 |
€61,211,880.11 |
€61,290,112.66 |
€61,201,721 |
To date in 2017, my Department has made payments totalling €10.1million to CIE for free travel.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
330. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person who is over 80 years of age and is a qualified adult on their spouse's pension is not eligible for the over 80 age allowance; his plans to change this position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11859/17]
View answerThe over 80 allowance is an increase of €10 per week on the basic pension rate, which is automatically awarded to qualified pensioners on attaining 80 years of age. Only one such allowance is payable in respect of each pension.
An Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA) is paid, generally, where a pensioner has an adult dependent (e.g., a spouse who is financially dependent upon them), who does not have enough contributions to claim a maximum rate State pension (contributory) in his/her own right.
The maximum rate of an IQA for someone over 66 is €209.00, and so in most cases where it is claimed, such couples have additional income or means above their State pension payments, as otherwise they would obtain a higher payment by the Qualified Adult claiming a State pension (non-contributory), which is subject to a household means-test, and has a maximum personal rate of €222 weekly (plus additional allowances, such as the over-80 allowance, where applicable). Where household means (e.g. the spouse with the State pension also having a significant occupational pension) result in this payment being reduced, the other spouse may instead claim the IQA, the means test of which is based on their own means instead. In such cases, the Qualified Adult can choose the payment which is most beneficial to them.
An additional €5 increase in weekly rates of payment for all social welfare recipients will come into force this month, with proportionate increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates of payments.
I have no plans to increase the rate of the IQA for people who are over the age of 80. If a person over 80 is in receipt of an IQA and has only limited household means, they may make a claim to the State pension (non-contributory), and if that payment is more beneficial to them, they will be paid under that scheme.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
331. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to subsidising or making a grant available to persons over 70 years of age applying for passports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11881/17]
View answerState fees charged for passports are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
332. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide a breakdown of participants in the youth guarantee nationally in the past three years; the number of participants who were offered full time employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11947/17]
View answer334. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of private sector employers that have engaged with the youth guarantee scheme to date; the number that have offered full time employment to participants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11949/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 332 and 334 together.
Government policy to reduce unemployment is twofold. First, through policies set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs; and second, through Pathways to Work to ensure that as many of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register, including young people.
To date, these policies have been effective in reducing youth unemployment. The youth unemployment rate has fallen from 31.1% in July 2012 to 14.5% in February 2017. The actual number of young unemployed has fallen from 70,000 to 30,500 over this period. Irish youth unemployment is now significantly below the EU average.
As many of the elements of a Youth Guarantee were already in place in Ireland prior to the EU Recommendation, the implementation of the Irish Youth Guarantee focused on enhancing processes and policies for assisting young unemployed people to find and secure sustainable jobs. To this end there is monthly engagement by case officers with all young unemployed to facilitate their return to employment.
Places on most of these programmes are demand led, and take-up by young people has fallen in line with the substantial fall in youth unemployment. The number of young people entering the programmes was 23,000 in 2014 and 19,000 in 2015. Final figures for 2016 are not yet available, but are expected to show a further fall on the 2015 level.
While systemised data are not readily available on employment outcomes on all programmes specifically for those jobseekers under 25, some indicative figures are available. For example:
- The evaluation of JobBridge by Indecon (report published October 2016), shows on the basis of self-reported survey results that 61% of interns aged 20 to 24 years (and 53.8% of those aged 15-19) were currently in employment at the time of the survey. Overall, individuals similar to those who participated in JobBridge had a 36.6% probability of securing employment within one year, whereas the JobBridge interns’ probability of securing employment within one year increased to 48.4% (an 11.8 percentage point difference and a 32% increase in the probability of becoming employed). 70% of participants were engaged by private sector host organisations.
- JobsPlus provides subsidies to employers for the full-time employment of those formerly long-term unemployed on the Live Register. Between 2014 and 2016 a total of 2167 participants aged under 25 benefited from JobsPlus in 1,757 private sector companies.
I am confident that the measures taken under the Youth Guarantee, together with the continuing economic recovery, will support further reductions in youth unemployment.
333. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Social Protection the criteria in place to assess whether job offers under the youth guarantee scheme are quality offers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11948/17]
View answerGovernment policy to reduce unemployment is twofold. First, through policies set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs; and second, through Pathways to Work to ensure that as many of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register, including young people.
To date, these policies have been effective in reducing youth unemployment. The youth unemployment rate has fallen from 31.1% in July 2012 to 14.5% in February 2017. The actual number of young unemployed has fallen from 70,000 to 30,500 over this period. Irish youth unemployment is now significantly below the EU average.
As many of the elements of a Youth Guarantee were already in place in Ireland prior to the EU Recommendation, the implementation of the Irish Youth Guarantee focused on enhancing processes and policies for assisting young unemployed people to find and secure sustainable jobs. To this end there is monthly engagement by case officers with all young unemployed to facilitate their return to employment.
The quality of a job offer is retrospectively defined as a job offer that leads to sustainable employment. The Department of Social Protection participates in the EU-wide annual data collection to monitor progress on the Youth Guarantee, which includes tracking the employment outcomes of the young unemployed over 6, 12 and 18 months. In relation to the year 2014, the data showed that almost 31,000 young people who had been wholly unemployed and receiving job-seeker’s payments exited unemployment to take up jobs during that year. Two-thirds of this group were still in employment 18 months later. Initial indications are that the follow-up information for those who exited unemployment in 2015 (which will be available in mid-2017) will show a broadly similar pattern of outcomes.
On this basis, a significant proportion of the young unemployed can be assessed as having taken up a quality job offer, in line with the Youth Guarantee Recommendation.
335. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide a list of all programmes run nationwide by the State under the youth guarantee scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11950/17]
View answerGovernment policy to reduce unemployment is twofold. First, through policies set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs; and second, through Pathways to Work, to ensure that as many of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register, including young people.
To date, these policies have been effective in reducing youth unemployment. The youth unemployment rate has fallen from 31.1% in July 2012 to 14.5% in February 2017. The actual number of young unemployed has fallen from 70,000 to 30,500 over this period. Irish youth unemployment is now significantly below the EU average.
As many of the elements of a Youth Guarantee were already in place in Ireland prior to the EU Recommendation, the implementation of the Irish Youth Guarantee focused on enhancing processes and policies for assisting young unemployed people to find and secure sustainable jobs. To this end there is monthly engagement by case officers with all young unemployed to facilitate their return to employment. For those who do not find employment, additional offers are provided for, on a range of education, training and employment programmes. The main programmes involved over the period 2014-2016 were identified in the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan, and are summarised in tabular form below.
Table 1: Programmes available to the young unemployed set out in the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan
|
Programme |
|
Youthreach/Community Training Centres (aged 15-17) |
|
JobBridge |
|
Tús |
|
JobsPlus (including JobPlus Youth) |
|
Momentum |
|
Back To Education Allowance (excl Momentum) |
|
Back to Work Enterprise Allowance |
|
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme |
|
SOLAS (Former FAS) training |
|
International Work Experience and Training |
|
Gateway |
|
Community Employment |
|
County Enterprise Board Youth Entrepreneurship Training and Mentoring supports [superseded by Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE)]* |
* The IBYE is an entrepreneurship support measure aimed at encouraging young people to start their own businesses and accordingly covers a wider age range (from 18-30).
I am confident that the measures taken under the Youth Guarantee, together with the continuing economic recovery, will support further reductions in youth unemployment. If you require any further assistance with this query please do not hesitate to contact my office.
336. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide a breakdown of communication and advertising costs spent by his Department to promote employment services and supports over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11951/17]
View answerMy Department is fully committed to ensuring that members of the general public are fully aware of the supports and services available from my Department. This includes employment activation services and supports.
The total expenditure on such activities from 2012 to 2016 was €337,000 and is detailed in the following tables.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
2012 – AMOUNT SPENT PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AND SUPPORTS
|
ADVERTISING |
€ |
COMMUNICATIONS |
€ |
TOTAL € |
|
|
33K |
Events and Information Stands |
2K |
- |
|
Radio |
NIL |
Stationery, Design and Other |
36K |
- |
|
Digital Only |
NIL |
- |
- |
- |
|
Digital and Print/Other |
NIL |
- |
- |
- |
|
TOTAL |
33K |
- |
38K |
71K |
2013 – AMOUNT SPENT PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AND SUPPORTS
|
ADVERTISING |
€ |
COMMUNICATIONS |
€ |
TOTAL € |
|
|
2K |
Events and Information Stands |
NIL |
- |
|
Radio |
NIL |
Stationery, Design and Other |
4K |
- |
|
Digital Only |
NIL |
- |
- |
- |
|
Digital and Print/Other |
NIL |
- |
- |
- |
|
TOTAL € |
2K |
- |
4K |
6K |
2016 – AMOUNT SPENT PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AND SUPPORTS
|
ADVERTISING |
€ |
COMMUNICATIONS |
€ |
TOTAL € |
|
|
9K |
Events and Information Stands |
15K |
- |
|
Radio |
9K |
Stationery, Design and Other |
NIL |
- |
|
Digital Only |
40K |
- |
- |
- |
|
Digital and Print/Other |
NIL |
- |
- |
- |
|
TOTAL € |
58K |
- |
15K |
73K |
