Thursday, 30 Jul 2020

Written Answers Nos. 823-848

JobPath Programme

Questions (823)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

823. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of immediately abolishing the JobPath scheme. [20020/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The JobPath contract contains provisions for early termination, notwithstanding any dispute which may arise and which is covered elsewhere in the contract. Written notice must be served on the contractor 6 months in advance of a termination.  The amount of compensation to be paid to the service providers is stipulated in the contract.  However, the amount of compensation, having been separately negotiated with each contractor, is commercially sensitive and its publication would place the State at a disadvantage both in terms of the contracts now in place and any future procurement that may be undertaken.  In addition to the financial liability, termination of the contract would have a significant impact on the 600 employees of the contractors, their sub-contractors and suppliers.

It is worth noting that the results of the econometric evaluation of the service, published by my Department, indicate that the outcomes for participating jobseekers, both in terms of employment and earnings, are better than those of non-participants.

Community Employment Schemes

Questions (824)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

824. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of providing for an additional 1,000 places on the community employment scheme. [20021/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The aim of the Community Employment (CE) programme is to enhance the employability of unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities.  Its objective is to help long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce.

The estimated cost of 1,000 places on the CE Scheme for one year is €16.8m, based on 2020 figures.  When the cost of the underlying DEASP support payment to CE participants is removed, the net cost of the additional 1,000 CE places amounts to an estimated €5.6 million per annum.

Rural Social Scheme

Questions (825, 827, 828)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

825. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of providing for an additional 500 places on the rural social scheme. [20022/20]

Claire Kerrane

Question:

827. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of increasing funding to the rural social scheme by 10%. [20024/20]

Claire Kerrane

Question:

828. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of increasing funding to Tús by 10%. [20025/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 825 to 828, inclusive, together.

The Tús scheme provides work placements for a twelve month period for those who are fully unemployed and on the live register for a year or more. The Tús initiative helps break the cycle of long-term unemployment by providing a work routine and valuable work experience.

The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) provides opportunities for farmers and fishermen/women who are currently in receipt of specified social welfare payments to work to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. Communities benefit from the skills and talents of local farmers and fishermen and participants have the opportunity to improve existing skills, or develop new skills, while performing this valuable work in their local communities.

The Tús budget for 2020 is €98 million and the estimated full year cost of a 10% increase in funding for Tús would therefore be €9.8 million.

The RSS budget for 2020 is €54 million and the estimated full year cost of a 10% increase in funding for RSS would therefore be €5.4 million.

Assuming that the existing participants supported by rural social scheme as of 1st January 2020 remain at the current payment rate, the estimated cost of an additional 500 RSS places for a full year is €8.3m. The net additional cost for 500 RSS places for a full year, when Farm/Fish Assist payments are taken into account, would be of the order of €2.8m.

Community Employment Schemes

Questions (826)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

826. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of increasing funding to community employment by 10%. [20023/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The aim of the Community Employment (CE) programme is to enhance the employability of unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities.  Its objective is to help long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce.

There are currently just under 21,000 participants on Community Employment.  The budget for the programme in 2020 is €349 million.   The estimated cost of a 10% increase in CE funding would be  approximately €35 million.

Questions Nos. 827 and 828 answered with Question No. 825.

Questions Nos. 829 to 831, inclusive, answered with Question No. 795.

Parental Leave

Questions (832)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

832. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of men and women, respectively that have taken parent’s leave and benefit since it was introduced. [20070/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Parents leave and benefit was introduced in 2019 and is available to parents of new babies born or children adopted from 1st November 2019. This benefit covers two weeks' paid leave from employment/self-employment for each parent within their child's first year, which can be taken as either two consecutive weeks or two separate weeks.  This benefit is in addition to existing maternity, adoptive and paternity benefit entitlements. 

As of 27th July 2020, my Department has awarded 5,833 claims for parents benefit.  Of these, 3,741 were in respect of applications from women, and 2,092 in respect of applications from men. 

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

JobPath Programme

Questions (833)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

833. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who have been referred to JobPath year on year since it was established; and the number of persons referred for a second, third, fourth, fifth time plus, in tabular form. [20071/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

All labour activation referrals, including JobPath, were suspended in March 2020 in accordance with public health guidelines. Engagement continued during this period by phone, email and other remote means, where possible. Referrals to contracted public employment services gradually recommenced from mid-June.  The pause in referrals to JobPath from March to June 2020 is reflected in the lower 2020 referral figures to date.

 The most recent information readily available on the number referrals to JobPath by year is set out in Table 1 below.  

Table 1 - JobPath referrals by year

Year	JobPath referrals
2015	6,591
2016	65,462
2017	74,874
2018	60,957
2019	50,328
2020	17,342
Total	275, 554

The most recent available figures show that 22,220 clients are currently in their second engagement having previously completed with the JobPath service. 3,012 have commenced a third engagement with the service.  It is important to recognise that these individuals are at least three years or more unemployed and as such are very distant from the labour market. When a customer has completed their engagement with JobPath they are referred back to the Department’s Intreo service where they will receive further assistance from a case officer in their journey towards employment. This can include being referred to education, training or employment supports. If a customer has not engaged with such supports within 4 to 6 months they will then be eligible for referral to the JobPath service again.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

JobPath Programme

Questions (834)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

834. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount paid to the JobPath providers since it was established, including a breakdown of referral fees and sustainment fees. [20072/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

From January 2016 to the end of June 2020 total invoices amounted to €243.2m, of which €94m was in respect of referral fees and €149.2m for sustainment fees.  When recoupments of €7.8m are taken into account, actual total expenditure amounts to €235.4m.

JobPath Programme

Questions (835)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

835. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who have had employment sourced for them through JobPath; and the number of persons whose employment was sustained for 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks, respectively. [20073/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

JobPath provides a case management based employment advice and counselling service to long term unemployed jobseekers.

To date, some 61,626 jobseekers have commenced employment during their engagement period with JobPath.  39,531 had sustained employment for 13 weeks, 31,523 for 26 weeks, 25,471 for 39 weeks and 20,881 for 52 weeks.

 It should be noted that many clients who are currently engaged with JobPath are still in the first phase of the service. They have not yet had sufficient time with the service to have gained employment nor sustain that employment for up to 52 weeks.  The measure of performance will improve as more clients complete their engagement with the service and have a chance to reach 52 weeks in employment.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

JobPath Programme

Questions (836)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

836. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of times JobPath providers have reported jobseekers to her Department for non-engagement with the scheme since it was established. [20074/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

In the normal course of business the JobPath service providers will regularly submit non-engagement notifications to the Department. This is an administrative function which is not necessarily indicative of any particular outcome. In the majority of cases the client will be contacted and the appointment will be rescheduled. Some clients may have multiple non-engagements recorded without penalty.  

 In total, since the JobPath service commenced, 17,998 or 6.9%, of the 259,275  clients who had engaged with the JobPath service (up to the end of January 2020) have had, at some point during their engagement period, a penalty rate applied to their payment.  These figures are consistent with the overall level of penalty rates applied to jobseekers in activation. 

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.  

JobPath Programme

Questions (837)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

837. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of penalties that have been applied to jobseeker's rates for non-engagement with JobPath since it was established. [20075/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Penalty rates were introduced in 2011 as a means of encouraging jobseekers to engage with activation measures and to co-operate with efforts of the Department to assist them in securing employment.  The Department is committed, under Pathways to Work, to incentivise the take-up of activation opportunities, and this includes implementing sanctions for failure to engage where appropriate.

All jobseekers are required to engage with my Department’s activation service and this obligation applies irrespective of whether the service is provided by my Department’s own Case Officers, or those contracted through the Local Employment Service (LES), or by the JobPath providers.  However contracted providers cannot and do not apply penalty rates but are obliged to report the facts and circumstances of a case to a Deciding Officer of my Department, who on careful consideration, may apply a penalty rate, where appropriate. 

As of the end of January 2020, there were 59,964 clients engaged with JobPath of whom 430, or 0.7%, had a penalty rate applied to their claim.  This figure is consistent with the overall level of penalty rates applied to Jobseekers in activation. 

In total, since the JobPath service commenced, 17,998 or 6.9%, of the 259,275  clients who had engaged with the JobPath service (up to the end of January 2020) have had, at some point during their engagement period, a penalty rate applied to their payment.

Due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, the application of penalty rates has been suspended since March 2020.

JobPath Programme

Questions (838)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

838. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the oversight her Department has had on JobPath providers; and the number of inspections, both notified and unannounced, respectively, that have been carried out. [20076/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

There are a number of key features which enable my Department to monitor all aspects of the JobPath providers’ performance and ensure contract compliance.  

Every participant is provided with a service guarantee - a baseline level of service covering frequency of engagement, personal progression planning, geographic accessibility and in-employment support.  

As part of their contractual obligations, the provider is required to have a comprehensive Complaints Process and this is advertised in all JobPath provider office locations.  The process contains various levels of escalation, allowing complaints to be dealt with at a level appropriate to the concern.  

Should a customer remain dissatisfied having exhausted the contractor's Complaint Process, they can request my Department to carry out a review.  In this way it can be established if the complaint has been fully dealt with, and in a fair and reasonable manner.  If the customer remains dissatisfied following a review, they have the option to refer the matter to the Office of the Ombudsman.  

As at end of June 2020, a total of 111 inspections have been carried out at JobPath service delivery locations; 66 have been notified and 45 were un-notified.  

The inspections monitor compliance with the service level agreement and the contract generally, including, for example, the suitability and standard of accommodation, staffing levels, Irish language compliance, customer service and customer feedback, checking the client’s Personal Progression Plan, Review Meetings compliance, the checking of Job Sustainment Fee Evidence Types and Exit Plans.  The inspections will be conducted for the duration of the JobPath contract.  

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

JobPath Programme

Questions (839)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

839. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department has had engagement with JobPath providers since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. [20077/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

My officials hold regular meetings with both JobPath contractors as part of the normal contract management process. Since the onset of the Covid-19 restrictions these meetings have taken place via conference calls.

Referrals to all activation services, including those provided by the JobPath providers, were suspended in March in accordance with public health guidelines.  My Department has continued to liaise with the JobPath providers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and they have continued to engage with their existing clients by phone, email and other electronic means where possible.

In parallel with the Intreo service, our contracted public employment services, including JobPath and the Local Employment Services, resumed activation for new referrals in June.  My officials were in contact with the various contracted employment services as appropriate to ensure they were aware of and implementing the appropriate guidelines for resuming their services.

 It is vital to continue to engage with the long term unemployed and other cohorts to ensure they do not become further distant from the labour market.  This will be undertaken with due regard to public health requirements.

Employment Support Services

Questions (840)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

840. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide further details of her plans as contained in the July stimulus to enhance public employment service capacity across the Intreo system including contracted services; the contracted services to which she is referring; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20078/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

I very much welcome the Jobs Stimulus package which sets out the Government’s substantial response to the Covid-19 crisis to provide an impetus to our economic recovery.

My Department’s contribution to that impetus will be to support people without jobs.  My Department and the Department of Further and Higher Education and Training, Innovation and Research will invest €200 million in: training and education, skills development, a work placement and experience programme, recruitment subsidies and job search advice and assistance services.  The purpose of this new  investment, along with the financial provision already in place for these measures, is to help those who have lost jobs to find new employment or retraining opportunities or to develop new skills.

Given the sharp increase in unemployment in recent months there is a requirement to increase the capacity of the Intreo Public Employment Service to support jobseekers through jobsearch advice and assistance services. 

My Department will finalise, over the coming weeks, how it will increase this capacity.   This will include additional case officer staff in Intreo Centres and increasing the capacity of the Local Employment Services contracted providers.  My officials will be discussing this with these providers and other providers over the coming weeks and will have regard to the appropriate procurement and contract requirements.

Community Employment Schemes

Questions (841)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

841. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider abolishing or extending the three-year rule on community employment schemes as a result of lost time on the scheme due to Covid-19 and the difficulties that can be experienced in replacing participants in local communities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20079/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The Community Employment CE) Scheme is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis.

In general, the period of participation on CE is for one year.  However, CE participants who are working towards a major award or industry qualification can seek to extend participation by up to a further two years.

During the Covid-19 emergency, my Department continued to provide the necessary funding for CE schemes while also introducing a number of contingency measures.  These measures included the extension of all existing CE participant contracts for the duration of the emergency.

Now that the country has begun the process of returning to normal operations and in keeping with the Government’s Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business, the contingency measures have concluded and the recruitment of new CE participants is actively underway.

Those CE participants who had their contracts extended during the emergency period are now finishing up on their schemes on a phased basis over the coming period and further extensions will not be granted. 

The priority for my Department is to ensure that all employment and activation programmes have the best outcomes for participants.  Places on CE will continue to be available to support those who are long term unemployed and furthest removed from the labour market while maintaining the role of CE as an active labour market programme.

Community Employment Schemes

Questions (842)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

842. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider abolishing or extending the six-year rule on community employment schemes for those aged over 55 years of age in view of the fact they are close to pension age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20080/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Community Employment (CE) is a positive initiative that enables the long-term unemployed to make a contribution to their communities whilst up-skilling themselves for prospective future employment. It helps to break the cycle of unemployment and improve a person’s chances of returning to the labour market.

A number of new conditions were introduced on CE in July 2017 to further support progression and broaden access to CE to a wider range of people. In general, all CE placements for new entrants aged between 21 and 55 years will be for 1 year.  However, CE participants who are working towards a major educational or training award can seek to extend participation by up to two years to enable them to reach the required standard of qualification. In addition, those over 55 years of age can remain on CE for three years.

An overall lifetime limit of 6 years will apply to all CE participants (7 years for those from a disability payment). A person may re-qualify for CE after 12 months of being in receipt of a qualifying payment, provided they have not reached their lifetime limit.

Participants over age 62 are allowed to participate on a continuous basis up to the State Pension age on the CE Service Support Stream (SSS), subject to availability of places on the SSS, satisfactory performance on the scheme and to annual approval by the Department. The places allocated for these participants within each individual CE scheme are subject to limitation criteria.

The Department has no current plans to abolish or to extend the six-year rule on CE schemes for those aged over 55.  I am mindful of ensuring that there is capacity on the scheme, within the financial allocation available to my Department, to enable new jobseekers access the work experience and training opportunities available through Community Employment.

Rural Social Scheme

Questions (843)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

843. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will remove the six-year rule for participants on the rural social scheme and revert to allowing participants remain on the scheme until they reach pension age in view of the fact that those on the scheme are primarily in their 50s and 60s and would struggle to find full-time employment following six years on the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20081/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The Rural Social scheme (RSS) provides opportunities for farmers and fishermen who are currently in receipt of specified social welfare payments to work to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities.  Communities benefit from the skills and talents of local farmers and fishermen and the participants have the opportunity to improve existing skills, or develop new skills, while performing this valuable work in their local communities.

A six-year time limit was introduced for new entrants to the RSS scheme with effect from 1st February 2017.  Prior to this an RSS participant could spend their entire working life on the scheme, resulting in a very limited turnover of places and few opportunities for new entrants.  The six year participation limit ensures that opportunities are made available to participate in the scheme for new entrants to the scheme who may satisfy the qualifying criteria.  RSS participants who commenced on the scheme prior to 1st February 2017 can remain on the scheme for as long as they continue to remain eligible. 

I would like to reiterate that I and the Department strongly support the work being done through the RSS and the vital role such schemes are playing in local communities, including supporting social services across the entire country.  Eligibility criteria for all of the Department's employment support schemes are regularly reviewed to ensure the best outcomes for both participants and their communities.

Social Welfare Payments Waiting Times

Questions (844)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

844. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the waiting time for each application for social welfare payments, in tabular form. [20082/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The information requested (where available) by the Deputy is detailed in the attached tabular statement. 

Average time to award scheme claims at end of June 2020 

Scheme	Average weeks to award
State Pension (Contributory)	3
Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension	1
State Pension (Non-Contributory)	5
Jobseeker's Allowance	1
Jobseeker's Benefit	2
One-Parent Family Payment	3
Supplementary Welfare Allowance Basic	1
Maternity Benefit	6
Paternity Benefit	6
Parents Benefit	1
Carer's Allowance	5
Carer's Benefit	4
Disability Allowance	7
Invalidity Pension	7
Illness Benefit	1
Occupational Injury Benefit	1
Child Benefit	2
Working Family Payment  (New Claims)	1
Domiciliary Care Allowance	7
Household Benefits	1
Free Travel	1

Social Welfare Payments Waiting Times

Questions (845)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

845. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the waiting time for each social welfare payment under appeal, in tabular form. [20083/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. 

The information requested by the Deputy regarding the waiting time for appeals in respect of each social welfare scheme is contained in the table below.

The time taken to process an appeal reflects a number of factors including that the appeals process is a quasi-judicial process with Appeals Officers being required to decide all appeals on a ‘de-novo’ basis.  In addition, appeals decisions are themselves subject to review by the High Court and decisions have to be formally written up to quasi-judicial standards.  Other factors that influence appeals processing times include the quality of the initial decision – in this respect the Department has changed the decisions process in respect of medical schemes, in order to provide more information to the claimant.  It is expected that this will help to reduce the number of appeals over time.

Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years.  As a result, appeal processing times in respect of all schemes generally improved between 2012 and 2019 from 39.5 weeks for an oral hearing in 2012 to 26.9 weeks in 2019, and from 27.8 weeks for a summary decision in 2012 to 22.1 weeks in 2019. 

Processing performance has in the past number of years been affected by a relatively large number of retirements in the Appeals Office - although these staff have been replaced it takes time for a new Appeals Officer to reach full productivity.  Nevertheless, the latest data for the period January to June 2020 shows a further improvement of 25.6 weeks for an oral hearing and 17.6 weeks for a summary decision. Further improvements in appeals processing times is a priority for the Chief Appeals Officer.   

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.  

Appeal Processing Times by Scheme 1 January 2020– 30 June 2020

	Average processing time (weeks) Summary Decisions	Average processing time (weeks) Oral Hearings
Blind Person’s Pension	33.4	38.6
Carer’s Allowance	13.1	21.7
Carer’s Benefit	18.1	23.0
Child Benefit	32.2	37.7
Disability Allowance	12.1	18.3
Illness Benefit	34.2	28.1
Death Benefit	40.9	-
Partial Capacity Benefit	41.3	52.2
Domiciliary Care Allowance	24.1	31.8
Deserted Wife’s Benefit	23.4	60.4
Farm Assist	22.1	22.8
Working Family Payment	20.5	30.2
Invalidity Pension	22.6	31.4
Maternity Benefit	26.4	-
Paternity Benefit	28.6	-
One Parent Family Payment	23.1	31.8
State Pension (Contributory)	29.2	31.3
State Pension (Non-Contributory)	27.8	34.6
Bereavement Grant	21.0	-
Occupational Injury Benefit	29.3	28.1
Disablement Pension	28.5	29.8
Medical Care	28.0	-
Guardian's Payment (Contributory)	20.9	-
Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory)	26.9	39.3
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means)	20.3	31.7
Jobseeker's Allowance (Payments)	19.5	34.3
Back To Work Family Dividend	19.9	-
Jobseeker's Transitional	21.5	27.6
Jobseeker's Benefit	17.7	23.7
Jobseeker's Benefit Self Employed	13.3	-
Incapacity Supplement	17.0	-
Treatment Benefit	22.7	-
Recoverable Benefits & Assistance	33.3	-
Carer’s Support Grant	16.3	23.8
Insurability of Employment	33.8	83.7
Supplementary Welfare Allowance	15.4	27.9
Widow/Widower's Pension (Contributory)	38.2	33.1
Widow/Widower's Pension (Non-Contributory)	27.5	35.5
Widowed Parent Grant	29.1	-
All Appeals	17.6	25.6

Rural Transport Services

Questions (846)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

846. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to further invest in RuralLink; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20088/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Deputy Heather Humphreys)

I understand that the Deputy’s question relates to the Local Link Service and, accordingly, should be directed to the Minister for Climate Action, Communication Networks and Transport, who has responsibility for this service.

Covid-19 Pandemic

Questions (847)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

847. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to put in place additional resources, including additional medical staff, to deal with a Covid-19 breakout on the islands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20089/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

I would respectfully suggest that the Deputy should direct this question to my colleague, the Minister for Health.

Pensions Reform

Questions (848)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

848. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will elaborate on the commitment in the programme for Government to establish a commission on pensions; when this commission will be set up; the way in which the membership will be made up; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20090/20]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The public policy and social issues in relation to funding a sustainable and adequate State pension system are complex.  Therefore, the Government is establishing a Commission on Pensions to examine a range of issues including contributions, calculation methods, sustainability, eligibility and intergenerational fairness. 

The Terms of Reference for the Commission on Pensions are currently being developed and options for its membership are being considered.  Proposals will be brought to Government in that regard as soon as possible.  It is anticipated that the Commission will be considering submissions from a wide range of stakeholders, including key NGOs in the area.

Once it has concluded its deliberations, the Commission will report to Government by June of next year.  In the meantime, pending its report and decisions taken on its recommendations, this Government has clearly stated that the state pension age will remain at 66 years and will not be increased to 67 in January 2021 as currently legislated for.  This will require amendment to primary legislation and the Government will bring the necessary legislation before the Oireachtas later this year.

This Government is acutely conscious of the need to consider the sustainability of the State’s finances.  However, this is not the only consideration when thinking of the State pension age.  The State Pension is the bedrock of the pension system in Ireland.  It is extremely effective at ensuring that our pensioners do not experience poverty.  The Government is committed to ensuring that this remains the case.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.