Skip to main content
Normal View

Wednesday, 19 Dec 2018

Written Answers Nos. 515-534

Local Improvement Scheme Data

Questions (515)

Dara Calleary

Question:

515. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of rural roads that have received funding under the local improvement scheme in each of the years 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018, by local authority in tabular form. [53928/18]

View answer

Written answers

The Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas. The scheme is now funded by my Department and is administered through the Local Authorities.

As the Deputy may be aware, there was no dedicated funding for this scheme for a number of years due to constraints on public expenditure. However, I was very conscious of the underlying demand for the scheme in rural areas throughout the country.

I reintroduced the LIS in September 2017 and allocated a total of €17.4 million to Local Authorities for LIS roads last year.

In February of this year, I allocated €10.8 million to Local Authorities across the country under the 2018 LIS scheme, given the continuing level of demand for this funding in rural communities across Ireland. I also asked the Local Authorities to prepare a secondary list of roads which they could complete if further funding became available for the scheme during the year.

Following on from this, on 26th October last, I announced a further round of almost €10 million in funding to the Local Authorities. The allocations on a county-by-county basis for both of these rounds of funding are available on my Department's website.

The table below outlines the number of roads completed under LIS in 2017 and 2018 to date, in tabular form.

County

2017 Number of Roads Completed

2018 Number of Roads Completed

Carlow

20

14

Cavan

10

6

Cork

21

42

Clare

28

13

Donegal

164

56

Galway

57

30

Kerry

41

36

Kilkenny

16

8

Kildare

0

8

Leitrim

18

12

Laois

21

10

Limerick

18

10

Longford

18

13

Louth

8

6

Mayo

89

77

Meath

22

8

Monaghan

21

13

Offaly

20

13

Roscommon

41

40

Sligo

16

10

Tipperary

9

24

Waterford

17

12

Westmeath

23

9

Wexford

18

14

Wicklow

7

6

Total

723

490

Library Services Funding

Questions (516)

Dara Calleary

Question:

516. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of funding allocated by local authority under the libraries capital programme in each of the years 2016 to 2018; the amount expended in each such year per local authority; and the 2019 allocation in tabular form. [53929/18]

View answer

Written answers

My Department provides capital funding to supplement investment by local authorities in their library services. Funding is provided, for example, as a contribution towards the cost of developing library buildings, technological capacity and resources, book-stock and other areas of activity that enhance local library services.

My Department funds a Libraries Capital Programme which will invest some €29m in 19 or so projects, as well as the My Open Library service, over the period 2016 to 2022. To date over €5.6m has been paid under the programme and €6.75m is available for 2019. Over the lifetime of the programme, projects are required to progress through the Department's Four Stage Approval Process. A breakdown of allocations to date by Local Authority is provided in the table below. Details for 2019 are not available at this time as funding will be allocated during the course of the year as projects progress.

In addition, I recently announced a major capital investment package of almost €8 million for digital services and facilities in public libraries. The investment will enable ICT infrastructure upgrades and new software, meeting space technologies and digital learning suites in public libraries across the country. The investment comprises €5.6 million from my Department with the balance coming from Local Authorities. This funnding is in addition to €3.4m that I provided in 2017 for self-service technology and hot-desking facilitates. Details of this funding are set out separately in the table below.

Local Authority

2016

2017

2018

Self-service & Hot Desking Facilities

ICT Expenditure

Carlow

€31,318

€49,841

€78,216

Cavan

€60,279

€56,654

€88,376

Clare

€151,134

€154,998

€203,374

€33,066

€73,353

Cork City

€164,780

€260,548

Cork County

€90,894

€106,536

Donegal

€52,324

€114,309

€164,945

Dublin City

€975,000

€78,227

€585,999

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

€19,991

€61,686

€200,650

Fingal

€106,078

€475,903

Galway

€98,688

€141,805

€280,620

Kerry

€65,000

€185,000

€259,766

€96,430

Kildare

€73,000

€835,750

€174,082

€413,230

Kilkenny

€59,316

€119,258

€112,140

Laois

€23,110

€42,780

€124,480

€70,535

Leitrim

€75,289

€37,317

Limerick

€29,863

€163,700

€275,815

Longford

€23,117

€75,895

€72,010

€69,233

€60,348

Louth

€209,838

€60,368

€206,274

Mayo

€51,199

€115,625

€215,594

Meath

€82,711

€217,184

€240,750

Monaghan

€53,961

€51,438

€140,739

Offaly

€147,592

€78,398

€88,134

Roscommon

€40,784

€132,687

Sligo

€104,455

€60,716

South Dublin

€55,412

€157,453

€132,027

€171,229

Tipperary

€158,700

€150,000

€241,716

€291,930

Waterford

€58,158

€124,296

€235,914

Westmeath

€115,805

€44,856

Wexford

€28,993

€250,000

€201,971

€223,868

Wicklow

€527,735

€439,572

€117,188

€190,682

Totals

€1,888,706

€3,001,627

€712,941

€3,484,405

€5,624,334

Rural Regeneration and Development Fund

Questions (517, 518)

Dara Calleary

Question:

517. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of applications by category 1 and 2 projects made under the rural regeneration and development fund by county to date; the number of successful and unsuccessful project applications, respectively, per category that applied for funding per county; the successful projects by county that have been approved for funding per category; the value of funding approved for each such project; when successful applicants will receive funding in 2019; the amount allocated for the fund in 2019 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53930/18]

View answer

Dara Calleary

Question:

518. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the annual breakdown in funding in each of the years 2019 to 2022 following the confirmation of initial funding of €315 million allocated to the fund on a phased basis over the period 2019 to 2022; and when the second call will open for applications in tabular form [53931/18]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 517 and 518 together.

Under Project Ireland 2040, the Government has committed €1 billion to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund over a 10 year period to support rural economic development and help build strong communities. The Fund has been allocated €315m over the period 2019 to 2022, with €55m set aside in my Department's budget for successful projects in 2019. The respective allocations for the years 2020 to 2022 will be confirmed as part of the annual budgetary process.

The first call for applications for the Fund closed at the end of September and there was an excellent response from all across the country, with approximately 280 applications received. A breakdown of applications received by Category and County is set out in the Table 1.

Applications for the Fund are currently being examined by the Project Advisory Board, made up of representatives from key Government Departments and external experts, which was established to oversee the assessment process. Category 1 "shovel ready" projects were prioritised in the assessment process in the first instance and Category 2 projects - those which need development funding to become potential Category 1 applications in future calls for applications - are now being considered.

I announced the first set of 18 successful Category 1 projects for funding on the 23rd November 2018. Details of funding allocated to successful applications by County is set out in Table 2. My Department is currently engaging with the 18 successful lead applicants as part of the due diligence process. Contractual arrangements are also being finalised confirming project milestones and associated payment schedules.

The announcement on the 23rd November was just the beginning of the process and further announcements of successful Category 1 and Category 2 projects will take place early in 2019 with a further call for the Fund taking place in mid-2019.

Table 1. Applications by County and Category

County

Category 1

Category 2

Total per County

Carlow

1

5

6

Cavan

2

3

5

Clare

13

10

23

Cork

17

49

66

Donegal

8

4

12

Dublin

0

1

1

Galway

9

5

14

Kerry

7

7

14

Kildare

4

9

13

Kilkenny

4

5

9

Laois

4

1

5

Leitrim

2

3

5

Limerick

13

5

18

Longford

2

1

3

Louth

2

2

4

Mayo

7

6

13

Meath

2

6

8

Monaghan

5

4

9

Offaly

1

4

5

Roscommon

2

1

3

Sligo

3

2

5

Tipperary

3

3

6

Waterford

1

4

5

Westmeath

1

2

3

Wexford

5

6

11

Wicklow

1

2

3

Multiple Locations

7

4

11

Totals

126

154

280

Table 2. Category 1 Successful Applications

County

Number of Successful Applications

Total RRDF Funding

Carlow

1

€654,820

Cavan

1

€867,174

Clare

1

€1,023,300

Cork

1

€2,157,375

Donegal

2

€3,228,042

Galway

2

€2,276,887

Kerry

1

€1,270,000

Kilkenny

1

€561,750

Laois

1

€1,200,000

Limerick

3

€7,167,477

Mayo

2

€2,895,062

Sligo

2

€1,115,752

Totals

18

€24,417,639

Rural Development Programme

Questions (519)

Dara Calleary

Question:

519. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 623 and 625 of 4 December 2018, if the data has been collated for both questions. [53932/18]

View answer

Written answers

I can confirm that I have provided the detailed information requested by the Deputy in correspondence to him this week in respect of both of his previous questions.

Dormant Accounts Fund

Questions (520)

Dara Calleary

Question:

520. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the net amount of funding that has come into the dormant account funds to date in 2018 after repayments to the banks of reclaimed funds; the amount it is proposed to spend on projects out of the fund in 2018; the spend to date; the amount of uncommitted funds on hand not including the statutory reserve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53933/18]

View answer

Written answers

With regard to transfers to and from the Dormant Accounts Fund for 2018, the most recent information available to me from the NTMA covers the period to the end of November 2018. At that point €68.75 million had transferred into the fund from dormant accounts within relevant financial institutions for 2018. A total of €20.35 million had been reclaimed from the fund. Therefore, the net value of transfers into the fund for 2018 to the end of November 2018 was €48.40 million.

With regard to expenditure on measures approved in Dormant Account Fund Action Plans, as the Deputy is aware, measures approved in Action Plans subsequently require voted Government expenditure to be made available. For 2018 the total voted expenditure dedicated to Dormant Accounts measures across relevant Government Departments was €30.19 million. The delivery of measures is a matter for each relevant Department, however, as part of our co-ordination of the fund and based on information provided by NTMA, the level of disbursement for 2018 is expected to amount to just over €28 million. Within my own Department the total voted allocation for Dormant Accounts measures in 2018 is €10.08 million and expenditure of €10.07 million has been incurred for 2018.

Finally, at the end of November 2018 the balance in the fund was €313.96 million and the reserve fund stood at €86.64 million. Commitments made in Dormant Accounts Action Plans have a total liability of €82.37 million, of which €4.87 million was met by end the November 2018. Therefore, the amount of uncommitted funds at the end of November 2018 stood at €149.82 million. The end December information will reflect the position with regard to all disbursements made in 2018.

LEADER Programmes Data

Questions (521)

Dara Calleary

Question:

521. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the expenditure by project and administration expenditure incurred under the 2007 to 2013 LEADER programme in each year and as of 30 November 2011; the value of projects that had been approved under this programme at this date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53935/18]

View answer

Written answers

Table 1 below provides a breakdown of the expenditure by project and administration costs under the 2007-2013 LEADER programme for each of the years 2007 to 2011. It is not practicable to provide details as of 30th November 2011, but the figures on the table reflect the position as of 31st December each year.

The value of projects approved as of 31st December 2011 was just over €92 million.

Table 1: 2007-2011 Project & Administration Expenditure for LEADER 2007-2013

Year

Project Expenditure

Administration Expenditure

Total Expenditure

2007

€0

€0

€0

2008

€0

€0

€0

2009

€8,201,445

€11,464,519

€19,665,964

2010

€30,596,158

€13,659,685

€44,255,843

2011

€35,452,082

€12,009,677

€47,461,759

Totals to end 2011

€74,249,685

€37,133,881

€111,383,566

Mountain Rescue Service

Questions (522)

Dara Calleary

Question:

522. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development his plans to provide ongoing current and capital funding for mountain rescue to the mountain rescue teams nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53936/18]

View answer

Written answers

Mountain Rescue Ireland (MRI) is the representative body for mountain rescue services on the island of Ireland. A significant level of support has been provided to Mountain Rescue Ireland and to the various mountain rescue teams throughout the country over the last number of years.

I understand that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport provides an average grant of approximately €7,400 per annum for each individual MRI rescue team which helps defray their operational costs and with the provision of health and safety equipment.

In 2016, through the former Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, a sum of €66,245 was provided towards the insurance costs of Mountain Rescue Ireland for 2017. In 2017, I provided €88,816 towards the organisation's insurance costs for 2018 and, this year, I provided €75,190 towards their insurance costs for 2019.

As part of the CLÁR programme, in 2017 I introduced an initiative to support first-response organisations that provide much-needed emergency support services in rural areas in a voluntary capacity. Under this measure, and as part of a competitive process, €361,116 was allocated to MRI teams towards the provision of 6 first-response vehicles.

Under the 2018 CLÁR programme, MRI was approved €200,000 in grant funding across 6 projects.

Mountain rescue teams are staffed on a voluntary basis and provide an important service in rural Ireland. In 2017, the 11 mountain rescue teams on the island of Ireland responded to 272 incidents.

Comhairle na Tuaithe

Questions (523)

Dara Calleary

Question:

523. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of meetings held of Comhairle na Tuaithe in 2017 and to date in 2018; the progress made in the development of rural and outdoor recreation in the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53937/18]

View answer

Written answers

As the Deputy will be aware, my Department was established on 19th July 2017. Since then, I met with the members of Comhairle na Tuaithe on 13th February 2018, and Comhairle met on two further occasions, 16th May 2018 and 5th July 2018.

My meeting with Comhairle on 13th February was to hear directly from the members their views on the recommendations of the independent review of Comhairle and the Countryside Recreation Strategy which was finalised in March 2016. I also heard the members' views on the future direction of Comhairle and on the development of the outdoor recreation sector in Ireland generally. That meeting was very constructive in helping me to formulate proposals for the future development of the sector.

My officials presented initial proposals to the Comhairle members at the meeting of 16th May 2018 and, through my officials, I received detailed feedback from the members on those proposals. I have considered that feedback in the context of a wider focus on the development of the rural recreation sector and I will make a final decision regarding the future mandate of Comhairle na Tuaithe shortly.

Responsibility for the development of rural and outdoor recreation is shared across a number of Government Departments. However, my Department supports rural recreation primarily through the Walks Scheme and the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme.

The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme provides funding for the development of new outdoor recreation infrastructure and/or the maintenance, enhancement or promotion of existing outdoor recreation infrastructure in Ireland. Over 500 projects around the country have been approved for funding of over €20 million under this scheme since the end of 2016.

The Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to double the funding available for the Walks Scheme and to increase the number of trails covered. Budget 2019 provided an increase in funding for the Walks Scheme, from €2 million per annum, to €4 million per annum from next year.

I will shortly be initiating a review of the operation of Walks Scheme which will inform decisions regarding the expansion of the scheme. In order to be in a position to bring new trails on to the scheme as soon as possible, I will also be inviting Local Development Companies and Local Authorities to submit expressions of interest in respect of trails that meet specific qualifying criteria, to be considered for inclusion in the scheme.

Local Improvement Scheme Data

Questions (524)

Dara Calleary

Question:

524. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of expenditure that has been incurred to date under the local improvement scheme allocation of almost €10 million to local authorities announced on 26 October 2018 to local authorities sanctioned by each local authority on the scheme in tabular form. [53938/18]

View answer

Written answers

The Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas. The scheme is funded by my Department and is administered through the Local Authorities.

As the Deputy may be aware, there was no dedicated funding for this scheme for a number of years due to constraints on public expenditure. However, I was very conscious of the underlying demand for the scheme in rural areas throughout the country.

I therefore reintroduced the Local Improvement Scheme in September 2017 and allocated a total of €17.4 million to Local Authorities in 2017, based on demand and the capacity of Local Authorities to substantially complete the works before the end of the year.

In February of this year, and given the continuing level of demand for this funding in rural communities across Ireland, I allocated €10.8 million to Local Authorities across the country under the 2018 LIS scheme. I also asked the Local Authorities to prepare a secondary list of roads which they could complete if further funding became available for the scheme during the year.

Following on from this, on 26th October last, I announced a further round of almost €10 million in LIS funding to the Local Authorities. The allocations on a county-by-county basis for both of these rounds of funding are available on my Department's website.

60% of the funding allocated under Round 2 of the 2018 LIS scheme has been released to eligible Local Authorities on the basis of substantial completion of the works by year-end. The amount of funding released to each Local Authority is provided on the table below.

LIS Round 2 2018

County

Funding released to Local Authority

Carlow

€166,967.40

Cavan

€205,008.00

Clare

€334,106.40

Cork

€420,000.00

Donegal

€545,109.60

Galway

€600,000.00

Kerry

€289,794.00

Kildare

€47,754.60

Kilkenny

€218,809.80

Laois

€182,553.00

Leitrim

€180,072.00

Limerick

€164,009.40

Longford

€133,330.20

Louth

€0.00

Mayo

€592,941.00

Meath

€248,642.40

Monaghan

€174,504.60

Offaly

€212,333.40

Roscommon

€270,406.80

Sligo

€194,922.00

Tipperary

€101,290.80

Waterford

€195,028.20

Westmeath

€195,134.40

Wexford

€90,846.00

Wicklow

€214,881.00

TOTAL

€5,978,445.00

CLÁR Programme

Questions (525)

Dara Calleary

Question:

525. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if consideration is being given to reintroducing the group water and group sewerage top-up leverage schemes under CLÁR; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53939/18]

View answer

Written answers

The CLÁR programme provides funding for small scale infrastructural projects in disadvantaged rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation.

Since 2016, the CLÁR programme has provided funding to support safety measures around schools and other community facilities. It has funded play areas and multi-use games areas in communities. It has provided supports for first responders and, this year, it has enabled the purchase of vehicles to transport people to cancer care centres and respite services.

I have initiated a review of the CLÁR programme which will examine CLÁR areas by reference to the 2016 Census of Population data. This review will also help to determine the most appropriate measures to be included in CLÁR programmes in 2019 and beyond.

I am aware that, in the past, the CLÁR programme supported measures such as group water and group sewerage schemes. Decisions regarding specific measures which might be supported under the CLÁR programme in 2019 will be made early next year and will be subject to budgetary availability.

Departmental Schemes

Questions (526)

Dara Calleary

Question:

526. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development his views on a proposal by a person (details supplied). [53943/18]

View answer

Written answers

My response to PQ 51737 refers.

The Department of Rural and Community Development was established last year to deliver on the Government’s commitment to bring a greater degree of coordination and cohesion to all of the work of Government in so far as it impacts on rural Ireland and on communities in regions throughout the country.

My Department delivers a variety of schemes that provide supports for groups in rural and urban communities in line with commitments in the Programme for Partnership Government and the Action Plan for Rural Development. This does not, however, extend to the provision of vouchers, subsidies or income support for individuals.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (527, 528)

Barry Cowen

Question:

527. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount spent on social media by his Department in 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018; the projected spend in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53996/18]

View answer

Barry Cowen

Question:

528. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount spent on marketing and media by his Department in 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018; the projected spend in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54013/18]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 527 and 528 together.

The details requested by the Deputy are set out in the table below. As my Department was established on 19th July 2017, the information provided commences on that date and includes the remainder of 2017 and spending to date in 2018.

2017

2018

Photography

€3,249

€6,040

Advertising

€12,712

€7,491.86

*National Ploughing Championships exhibit

€47,233

€143,433

Project Ireland 2040 Video Production

NIL

€ 6,297.92

Social media

Nil

Nil

*My Department hosted a joint exhibit with the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht at the Ploughing Championships in 2017 and 2018. In 2017 the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht was the lead exhibitor and therefore incurred the higher percentage of costs. In 2018, my Department was the lead exhibitor and incurred the higher percentage of costs.

In terms of projected spend in 2019, my Department is preparing a communications strategy which will govern our internal and external communications priorities for next year. Any decisions in relation to spending on media and other communication channels will be met within existing allocations.

Credit Union Lending

Questions (529)

Michael McGrath

Question:

529. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of credit unions providing the It Makes Sense loan scheme; the number of credit unions not providing the scheme; the actions undertaken to increase the number; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53959/18]

View answer

Written answers

The Personal Micro Credit Scheme (PMC) provides for small scale loans, known as It Makes Sense loans, by credit unions to borrowers who have difficulty accessing low cost credit. The rollout and extension of the Personal Micro Credit Scheme, is among the commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government 2016.

The aim of the scheme is to move people away from the use of high cost moneylenders as a mechanism to provide for their planned financial needs and to provide an alternative, legitimate, and low cost personal loan scheme. Currently 111 credit unions are participating in the scheme.

An Implementation Group chaired by my Department is in place to progress the initiative and continues to engage with the Credit Union representative bodies and individual credit unions to encourage participation in the scheme. However, each credit union is an autonomous body, with its own Board, which decides whether or not to participate in the scheme.

Efforts to increase participation in the scheme have included presentations to the Boards of credit unions; presentations at industry events such as Regional Chapter Meetings and Conferences; advertising and information in credit union representative body publications, for example CU Focus. Direct approaches to individual credit unions are also made on a regular basis. Peer to Peer credit union activities have also taken place whereby participating credit unions have contacted non-participating credit unions to share learning and experience on the benefits of participation to the credit union, to the community as well as to the individual borrower and encourage participation.

Since the scheme was initiated continuous process improvements have also been made: automation of processes between credit unions and An Post, which facilitates loan repayments through the Household Budgeting facility, has been put in place where possible and the administrative process has been streamlined.

A dedicated PMC Helpdesk providing information and support to prospective participating credit unions and ongoing training and support to credit unions which have signed up to participate is in place.

The Implementation Group continues to explore ways to increase participation in the scheme. Most recently, a Task Force has been established by the Social Finance Foundation (SFF), to discuss the issue of “Tackling High Cost Credit in Ireland”. Among its work elements is consideration of potential solutions to address the challenges facing the further rollout of the PMC scheme.

The Task Force is chaired by the CEO of the Citizens Information Board and includes representatives from my Department, the Department of Finance, the Central Bank as well as the credit union development and management associations.

Information on the PMC scheme and regular updates, including the list of participating credit unions is available at www.itmakessenseloan.ie, a facebook page www.facebook.com/itmakessenseloan and on www.citizensinformation.ie

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

School Meals Programme

Questions (530)

Thomas Byrne

Question:

530. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the oversight provided over the administration of the urban schools meal programme and the school meals local projects scheme since 2016; the number of audits which have taken place; the number of audits in which irregularities were identified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54022/18]

View answer

Written answers

The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of meals for disadvantaged school children through two schemes - the statutory Urban School Meals Scheme (USMS) and the non-statutory School Meals (Local Projects) scheme (SMLPS).

Both schemes provided food to some 1,580 schools and organisations benefitting 250,000 children at a total cost of €54 million in 2018 representing an increase of €6.5 million over the previous year. The objective of the scheme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good quality food, to take full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.

The SMLPS provides funding directly from this Department to primary schools, post-primary schools, special schools, local groups and voluntary not-for-profit organisations operating their own school meals projects.

The USMS for primary schools is operated by the Local Authorities in some 300 schools and benefits approximately 74,000 children. It is part-financed by this Department with €1.1m spent in 2017. Sixteen Local Authorities currently participate in the USMS providing €1.1m in matching funding for food costs, as well as funding their own non-food administration costs. This scheme is administered and operated by the Local Authorities and provides meals to primary schools only. This Department accepts the recommendations of Local Authorities for the inclusion of schools in the scheme and reimburses the Local Authorities for up to 50% of the food costs. It is up to the Local Authorities/ Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to monitor expenditure and carry out any audits of the scheme.

In relation to the SMLPS, in recent years priority for new applications for funding had been given to schools which are part of the DEIS programme.

The Department commenced an inspection programme of schools participating in the SMLPS 2012 which involves on-site visits to the schools/organisations by Social Welfare Inspectors (SWIs). The inspection programme has since been expanded and a three year programme is in place since September 2015 to cover all schools. Since 2012 a total of 1,564 inspections have been carried out. The number of individual schools inspected is higher because some organisations provide services to a number of schools, e.g. a School Completion Programme could support any number of schools but is treated as one organisation for inspection purposes. Details of the outcome of the inspection process are shared with the Department of Education and Skills (DES).

Some 300 organisations participate in both the USMS and the SMLPS. Of those organisations inspected in 2016 and 2017, 31 and 47 respectively participated in both the USMS and SMLPS.

Inspection results show a high rate of compliance with the terms and conditions of the Scheme.

Issues arising in “Partially-Compliant” and “Non-Compliant” organisations indicate non-compliance with specific scheme criteria e.g. unhealthy food items being supplied, inadequate accounting procedures in place, poor record keeping.

Each organisation is contacted directly by School Meals Section and given detailed feedback on areas of non-compliance as well as the Department’s follow-up actions. These organisations must provide evidence that issues raised have been addressed, within a timescale set by the Department. School Meals Scheme Section is informed of the issues and future applications for funding from these organisations are monitored for compliance with Scheme terms and conditions. Follow-up site visits are carried out by the Department’s Inspectorate. The number of inspections carried out and the results are detailed in the Appendix.

The 2018 inspections are being currently being reviewed and analysed. Thus far, there are no indications of serious irregularities.

Appendix

Table 1: School Meals Scheme Inspections 2016 – 2017:

Year

Number of inspections

Total

2016

367

2017

514

881

Table 2: Compliance rates among School Meals Scheme participants 2016-2017:

Year

Compliant (%)

Partially Compliant (%)

Non-Compliant (%)

2016

85

13

2

2017

89

10

1

Departmental Policy Functions

Questions (531)

John Brady

Question:

531. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the high level group has the scope to explore new policy ideas in which collaboration between her Department and the Revenue Commissioners would be central to such policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53484/18]

View answer

Written answers

As the Deputy is aware, one of the primary relationships that my Department has is with the Revenue Commissioners. Accordingly, the Department liaises bilaterally with the Revenue Commissioners through a joint DEASP/Revenue High Level Group (HLG) which was formally configured in 2010 and meets on a quarterly basis.

The group comprises senior management from both organisations and its purpose is to deepen the interaction at strategic level, as well as to ensure effective collaboration and interaction between the organisations. Both organisations are actively working together with a view to aligning expertise and information across their systems and operations.

A number of dedicated working groups have been established under the HLG to ensure collaborative efforts are directed towards progressing joint strategic and business priorities. The work of these groups is monitored by the HLG, as is the need for new working groups to address new and emerging issues that may arise.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Carer's Allowance Waiting Times

Questions (532)

Aindrias Moynihan

Question:

532. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the waiting times to process applications for carer's allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53499/18]

View answer

Written answers

My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed as quickly as possible.

Where any scheme area experiences delays, all possible steps are taken to improve processing times. This includes the assignment of additional resources, where available, and the review of business processes, to ensure the efficient processing of applications.

In general, social welfare schemes with a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process.

To qualify for carer's allowance, the carer must show that they are habitually resident in the State, that they are providing full-time care and attention to a person who requires this level of care and that their means are less than the statutory limit.

At the end of November 2018 the average waiting time for a decision on a new carer's allowance claim was 16 weeks.

This showed an improvement on the October figure of 17 weeks and was achieved by the re-assignment of staff from other areas of the Longford Centralised Schemes Office to claims processing in October. I expect that this improvement will continue over the coming weeks.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Pensions Data

Questions (533)

Aindrias Moynihan

Question:

533. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the waiting times to process applications for the State pension (non-contributory); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53502/18]

View answer

Written answers

My Department is committed to ensuring that claims for its pension schemes are processed as expeditiously as possible. However, claims for means-tested payments, in particular, remain a challenge and given their nature can require more detailed engagement with the applicant, thereby lengthening the decision making process. State pension non-contributory (SPNC) is a means tested pension with increasing complexity attached to the processing of applications. These challenges can arise from the background and age of claimants, their possible multiple sources of income and savings which can also include stocks, shares and other assets. In addition, an increasing number of claimants are born outside of Ireland and delays can occur while necessary supporting documentation for the pension application is being sourced either directly from the claimant or social security organisations in other jurisdictions. In some instances, claimants do not provide the full information required at application stage. This can slow down the processing of their claim and may result in the need for a visit by an inspector of the Department and perhaps multiple requests for further information before a final decision can be taken on the application.

The SPNC scheme area has a performance target of 75% of new claims to be awarded within 12 weeks of receipt. I understand from my Department that in November 2018, the average time to award was 9 weeks and 80% of claims were awarded within the target timeframe. I wish to assure the Deputy that prompt processing of claims remains a priority for me and that processing times are kept under constant review.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Invalidity Pension Waiting Times

Questions (534)

Aindrias Moynihan

Question:

534. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the waiting times to process applications for invalidity pensions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53504/18]

View answer

Written answers

Invalidity pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.

The average time taken to award a new IP claim in November was 8 weeks. The Department is committed to ensuring that claims and reviews are processed as expeditiously as possible.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Top
Share