Written Answers Nos. 220-234
221. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork who is receiving the pandemic unemployment payment no longer qualifies for fuel allowance in view of the fact that the person had been in receipt of fuel allowance in advance of the pandemic unemployment payment award. [30860/20]
View answerThe fuel allowance is a payment of €24.50 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €686 each year) from October to April, to an average of 352,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €261.35 million in 2020. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household.
To qualify for the fuel allowance payment a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including being in receipt of a qualifying payment. The person concerned had previously been in receipt of long term casual jobseekers allowance which is a qualifying payment for fuel allowance. However, the person concerned is now in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP), which is not a qualifying payment for fuel allowance.
The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. Qualifying payments for fuel allowance are those payments that are considered long term payments and an applicant must also satisfy a means test. The PUP was introduced by my Department in March 2020 and is available to all employees and the self-employed who have lost employment due to a downturn in economic activity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. When introduced the scheme was expected to be a short term measure and applicants do not have to satisfy a means test to qualify for the payment.
Any decision to include the PUP as a qualifying payment for fuel allowance would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations taking into consideration the resources available to my Department.
Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, exceptional needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which customers are unable to meet out of their own resources, and this may include exceptional heating costs. Decisions on such payments are made on a case-by-case basis.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
222. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the value of regional aid granted under the regional aid guidelines granted by her Department or agencies under the remit of her Department in each of the past seven years; the value by county or lowest possible NUTS level over the period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30905/20]
View answerThis PQ, which I note has been put down to all departments, is not relevant to any of the schemes or services provided by my Department.
I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
223. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the reason community employment scheme income is assessed as reckonable income when calculating childcare fees. [30642/20]
View answerUnder the National Childcare Scheme, a parent’s “reckonable” income is assessed to determine their level of subsidy. Reckonable income includes family income, including DEASP payments, after tax, PRSI, USC, and any allowable items under the Scheme have been deducted.
There are some exceptions to this where some Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection scheme payments are deductible from reckonable income. The Childcare Support Act 2018 sets out the criteria for a payment to be deductible. These criteria are as follows:
- A payment that facilitates the participation of a person in employment or self-employment and is intended to be of limited duration
- A payment that is intended to support the participation of a person in education or training
- A payment that is intended to enable a person to meet certain expenses that arise as a result of exceptional family or social circumstances of the person
The Community Employment scheme supports people who are long-term unemployed or otherwise disadvantaged to return to work, by offering part-time and temporary job placements. While the CE scheme is of limited duration, it constitutes employment, rather than being a support into employment. Therefore the CE scheme does not meet the criteria outlined above, and is assessed as reckonable income under the NCS.
224. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the steps being taken to monitor and screen for child trafficking victims in foster care or vulnerable situations who may be more easily recruited into exploitative situations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30724/20]
View answerI wish to thank the Deputy for his question, and can confirm that I have referred the matter to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, for their direct reply.
225. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration his plans to honour the Workplace Relations Commission recommendation regarding the pay claim of the county childcare committees' co-ordinators in budget 2021. [30636/20]
View answerThe City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) are one of the key support mechanisms of my Department, and I want to acknowledge the important role they play in providing vital support and guidance to the early learning and care (ELC) and school age childcare (SAC) sector and to parents.
CCCs act as the local agent of my Department in the coordination and delivery of the national early education and childcare programmes and the implementation of Government policy at a local level, and in facilitating and supporting the development of quality, accessible ELC and SAC services for the overall benefit of children and their parents.
In 2005 the Minister for Finance sanctioned the rates payable to CCC managers as comparable to the rates applicable in the Local Authorities for Grade 6. Officials from my Department have been engaging with representatives from the CCCs, including both manager and Board of Management representatives, and their union representatives, in relation to a proposal for a review of the grading of CCC managers. This proposal sought a regrading of the role of CCC manager largely on the basis that the role has evolved significantly since it was first devised in 2002, and that the original linkage to the current grade is no longer appropriate.
Officials in my Department are continuing to engage with officials in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in order to resolve this matter.
226. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration if a group can be considered a youth work organisation under the terms of a plan (details supplied) and be approved to operate under the pandemic-related restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30744/20]
View answerThe Guidance for Youth Organisations Resuming Full Services document to which the Deputy refers to is designed to provide guidance for youth organisations funded by my Department. This guidance was prepared in the broader context of the Government’s Resilience & Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19, and the Return to Work Safely Protocol documents. It should be read alongside those documents, and any future Government advice in relation to COVID-19.
The guidance is high level and an organisation should prepare its own organisational plans for each level, in line with this guidance. These organisational plans should be informed by each organisation’s individual circumstances, in keeping with its accountability and governance structures. Organisations should apply a sensible approach, cognisant of the developing public health situation.
227. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration if his Department will revisit a decision not to grant a community employment childcare programme, CEC, payment for a person (details supplied) on a community employment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30748/20]
View answerMy Department will review this case but first requires additional information from the person referred to by the Deputy.
I would ask that the person referred to by the Deputy make contact with officials from my Department through the email address eyqueries@dcya.gov.ie so that the necessary information can be requested to process the review.
228. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration if his attention has been drawn to the staffing crisis in the early years sector in County Meath; the steps he is taking to address same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30845/20]
View answerI acknowledge that many early learning and care and school-age childcare services are reporting staffing and recruitment difficulties, with increased pressures as a result of Covid-19. There is no official data on the extent of staff shortages. However, officials in my Department have been actively monitoring the issue and have sought data and evidence-based proposals from sectoral representatives on the Covid Advisory Group on Reopening, which has been meeting regularly over recent months. In Pobal’s latest Early Years Sector Profile Report (mid-2019 data), the staff turnover rate stood at 23%. In County Meath the staff turnover rate was 21%. The figure remains unsustainably high.
I am committed to supporting providers in responding to current challenges. For example, the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme is available to the early learning and childcare sector, with a full exemption to the turnover rule, to assist them with staffing costs. Specifically in relation to recruitment difficulties, it is important that any measures considered are proportionate to the problem they seek to address and that wider impacts would be carefully considered.
Staffing and recruitment difficulties are being caused not by insufficient supply of qualified personnel, but by high levels of turnover and attrition. This is predominantly down to poor terms and conditions in the workforce, with for example the average pay being €12.55 per hour, and half of staff only being able to access part-time contracts. It is expected that poor terms and conditions will be addressed in the medium to long term via three plans currently being pursued by Government: a new funding model, a workforce development plan, and additional investment. Short-term measures are more challenging to find and, as stated above, the Department continues to work intensively with sectoral representatives to examine what might be possible. One potential solution that has been proposed by the sector is being given active attention at the moment by the Department of Education and Skills and my Department.
In that regard, it is important to stress that the minimum qualification requirement to work directly with children in an early learning and care service (Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications) was introduced in 2016 in order to improve the quality of provision and to achieve better outcomes for children. (There is currently no minimum qualification requirement for staff working in school-age childcare.) To remove this minimum qualification requirement could be contrary to the best interests of children and the vision for the sector that is outlined in First 5, the whole-of-Government strategy to improve the lives of babies, young children and their families. Such a move could be a significant backwards step in efforts to improve quality outcomes for children and could only be considered if there were a very strong evidence base requiring a change.
229. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration further to Parliamentary Question No. 792 of 8 September 2020, the reason his answer included the standard of one family place per 10,000 women when this is not the standard used in the Istanbul Convention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30864/20]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV).
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (known as the Istanbul Convention) sets out signatory obligations. The Convention does not set out the standard to which the Deputy refers. A policy document "Combating Violence Against Women: Minimum Standards for Support Services", published by the Council, references two standards: either one shelter space per 10,000 head of adult population, or one shelter space per 10,000 head of female population, with specific mechanisms for measuring population and calculation of shelter spaces.
In line with reporting conventions previously used by the Department of Justice, Tusla has applied the latter standard, given that this reflects the community-focused integrated response for victims, where community-based organisations and outreach supports are in place alongside refuges.
A review of domestic violence accommodation, currently underway by Tusla, will examine the capacity of current accommodation for victims of DSGBV and the level of need across the country. The Monitoring Group for the Second National Strategy for Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, led by the Department of Justice, will engage with the findings of the Tusla review. The Monitoring Group includes representatives from the DSGBV sector as well as officials from relevant Government bodies.
Tusla will continue to work with service providers throughout the country in the provision of resources to victims of domestic violence, including emergency refuge accommodation, non-refuge accommodation, and other community supports.
230. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the value of regional aid granted under the regional aid guidelines granted by his Department or agencies under the remit of his Department in each of the past seven years; the value by county or lowest possible NUTS level over the period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30893/20]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that my Department and agencies under its remit have not granted regional aid under the Regional Aid Guidelines in the last seven years.
231. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30712/20]
View answerEnglish language education (ELE) in Ireland is a broad and diverse sector with the vast majority of activity undertaken by private sector providers. I am aware of the challenges that are being encountered in the ELE sector and the substantial impact that the Covid-19 outbreak has had on its students, teachers and providers.
As part of the response to the pandemic, my Department established a specific Working Group for this sector. This group is comprised of representatives of relevant Government Departments and representatives of students, staff and ELE providers.
As part of this process, the representative bodies for ELE providers have engaged with the Working Group surrounding their proposals for supports to aid the recovery of this sector. In this forum, the providers have been advised of the measures introduced by Government to support businesses at this time as part of the wider Covid-19 response. These measures initially included the temporary wages subsidy scheme (TWSS) to facilitate employers to keep employees on the payroll during the initial period of the Covid-19 pandemic in order to retain this link for when business increases after the crisis. This temporary scheme has been superseded by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) which will continue to provide payroll support to businesses, including eligible ELE providers, and provides for a reduction in Employers PRSI. As part of Budget 2021, the Government has announced that this scheme, which was initially scheduled to run until 31 March 2021, will be reviewed at that point with a view to its extension through the remainder of 2021 if required.
Further to the above, the ELE provider representatives have been advised of the eligibility of businesses in this sector to apply, where appropriate, for further business supports made available by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation via Enterprise Ireland and through its network of Local Enterprise Offices as part of the July stimulus package. A full list of these supports and related information is available for providers here: https://dbei.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/COVID-19-supports/. Many of these measures and supports have been built upon as part of Budget 2021 including an extension of the commercial rates holiday which will reduce costs for businesses including ELE providers.
My Department will continue to engage with ELE provider representatives as this sector moves towards its full re-opening and continues on a path to recovery.
232. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the reason a person (details supplied) was offered a place in Youthreach in Limerick to complete the leaving certificate but was refused a place thereafter; if this decision will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30764/20]
View answerOfficials in my Department have contacted Limerick Clare ETB (LCETB) regarding this matter and I will write to the Deputy shortly with a response.
233. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if additional supports will be made available to college students who have paid full college fees but are advised to remain home under Covid-19 guidelines; if supports will be made available for students who have paid accommodation fees up front; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30793/20]
View answerUnder the Department’s free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate Higher Education students with students paying the student contribution. The student contribution fee is currently set at €3,000 per annum and can be paid in instalments. The State pays the contribution in full or part, through SUSI, for approximately 44% of students eligible for free fees.
I am very conscious of the impact of the pandemic has had on our students. To ensure the safety of our students and staff in further and higher education, the majority of college will be online for this semester and we will provide financial assistance through a once off €50 million fund. My officials and I are developing the process on how this once-off fund will operate for submission to Government prior to commencement. Further details will be available for student shortly.
Additionally Budget 2021 will provide further funding to provide enhanced SUSI grant supports for post-grads and increased support for the PATH access initiative to increase participation in Higher Education from the most economically disadvantaged students.
This builds on the specific student supports in response to Covid, which I announced in July including the provision of additional student assistance including a €15 million technology fund for devices for students in further and higher education to assist with difficulties in accessing technology to facilitate their course work in a blended capacity. These supports are being distributed through the colleges and further education providers.
Students in third-level institutions experiencing exceptional financial need can apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund, which was doubled this year to €16 million. This Fund assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Information on the fund is available through the Access Officer in the third level institution attended. This fund is administered on a confidential, discretionary basis.
I am conscious of the challenges faced by students in relation to student accommodation this year due to financial pressures and the blended learning format of the 2020/21 academic year. Throughout the last number of months my Department has been engaging with representatives from the higher education sector to address the challenges faced by students in this difficult time. My Department, in consultation with these key stakeholders will continue to monitor the situation relating to student accommodation closely.
Refund or cancellation policies in student accommodation should be set out in the license agreement signed at the beginning of the academic year. In the first instance students should engage with their accommodation provider to see if an arrangement can be reached in regard to a refund.
If this is not possible, under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 students have access to the Dispute Resolution Services of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
I have asked our higher education institutions, where they have accommodation, to try to show flexibility in terms of its use for the coming academic year, as well as flexibility with regard to cancellations and refunds. I would hope that private providers will show the same flexibility, however it is not within my remit to issue instruction in relation to the private rental market.
234. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the value of regional aid granted under the regional aid guidelines granted by his Department or agencies under the remit of his Department in each of the past seven years; the value by county or lowest possible NUTS level over the period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30899/20]
View answerThe EU Regional Aid Guidelines (RAGS) provides for enhanced rates of State Aid in the least economically developed areas of each Member State. The 2014-2020 Regional Aid Guidelines entered into force on 01 July 2014. Under the terms of the 2014 -2020 RAGS, regions covering 51.28% of Ireland’s population are designated as ‘assisted areas’.
Ireland, as a whole, has not granted any aid under the Regional Aid Guidelines. This is not unusual and is the situation in most Member States. Instead, Irish granting authorities, including those aligned with my Department, avail of Regional Aid under the Block Exemption Regulations.
I refer the Deputy to the recent response to this query provided by An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which returned details for the agencies which are now aligned with my Department.
