Tuesday, 25 May 2021

Written Answers Nos. 395-414

School Meals Programme

Questions (397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

397. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of schools that provide hot school meals by county in tabular form. [27860/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

398. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of primary schools that provide hot school meals by county in tabular form. [27861/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

399. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of post-primary schools that provide hot school meals by county in tabular form. [27862/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

400. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of special schools that provide hot school meals by county in tabular form. [27863/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

401. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of alternative education settings including youthreach and related schemes that provide hot school meals by county in tabular form. [27864/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

402. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of schools that provide hot school meals. [27865/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

403. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of primary schools that provide hot school meals. [27866/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

404. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of post-primary schools that provide hot school meals. [27867/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

405. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of special schools that provide hot school meals. [27868/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

406. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of alternative education settings including youthreach and related schemes that provide hot meals. [27869/21]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 397 to 406, inclusive, together.

The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,506 schools and organisations benefitting 230,000 children. The objective of the programme 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.

Funding under the school meals (local projects) scheme can be provided for breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, hot meals and afterschool clubs and is based on a maximum rate per child per day, depending on the type of meal being provided e.g. €1.40 per child per day where a cold lunch club is being provided, €1.90 per child per day where a dinner club is being provided and €2.90 per child per day where a Hot Meal club is being provided. Dinner clubs provide a hot meal, but are different from the Hot Meals clubs, in that they tend to be provided by schools with onsite cooking facilities whereas food for Hot Meals clubs is cooked offsite and delivered to the school.

As part of Budget 2019, funding was provided for a pilot scheme from September 2019, providing hot school meals in primary schools at a cost of €1m for 2019 and €2.5m in 2020. The pilot involved 37 schools benefitting 6,744 students for the 2019/2020 academic year and was aimed primarily at schools with no onsite cooking facilities.

In Budget 2021, I announced that an additional €5.5m would be provided to extend the provision of hot school meals to an additional 35,000 primary school children, currently receiving the cold lunch option. My Department issued invitations for expressions of interest to 705 primary schools in November 2020. A total of 281 expressions of interest were received in respect of 52,148 children.

The 35,000 places were allocated to each local authority area based on the number of children applied by local authority as a percentage of the total number. A minimum of one school for each Local Authority area was selected.

As a result of this process, 189 of the 281 schools that submitted an expression of interest were selected.

A breakdown of the number of primary schools, post-primary schools, special schools, alternative education settings and schools by county is contained in table 1 in the attached tabular statement. These figures include schools that provided a dinner club and those that operated the Hot Meals Pilot in 2020/2021.

A breakdown of the percentage of primary schools, post-primary schools, special schools, and alternative education settings is contained in table 2 in the attached tabular statement. These figures include schools that provided a dinner club and those that operated the hot school meals pilot in 2021.

Tabular Statement

Table 1 – Number providing Hot Dinners and Hot School Meals

County	Primary Schools	Post-Primary Schools	Special schools	Alternative Education Settings	Total Hot Dinners and Hot Meals
Carlow	4	2	0	3	9
Cavan	2	1	1	2	6
Clare	3	0	2	2	7
Cork	8	7	0	9	24
Donegal	13	13	1	1	28
Dublin	40	25	4	39	108
Galway	5	9	3	3	20
Kerry	4	1	0	3	8
Kildare	3	1	1	1	6
Kilkenny	1	4	1	1	7
Laois	2	2	2	0	6
Leitrim	3	0	0	0	3
Limerick	7	4	2	4	17
Longford	0	5	1	2	8
Louth	5	2	1	3	11
Mayo	6	6	4	0	16
Meath	0	5	1	1	7
Monaghan	3	4	0	7	14
Offaly	1	2	1	0	4
Roscommon	2	2	2	3	9
Sligo	4	4	0	2	10
Tipperary	3	5	0	2	10
Waterford	5	2	1	3	11
Westmeath	1	2	1	3	7
Wexford	4	4	0	2	10
Wicklow	4	1	0	0	5

Table 2 – Percentage providing Hot Dinner or Hot School Meal

	Total Number	Number providing Hot Dinner or Hot School Meal	% Providing Hot School Meals
Primary Schools	3,107	133	4.28%
Post-Primary Schools	730	113	15.48%
Special Schools	134	29	21.64%
Alternative Educations Settings	Not available*	96	Not Available

* The total number of these types of organisations is not held.

Question No. 398 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 399 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 400 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 401 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 402 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 403 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 404 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 405 answered with Question No. 397.

Question No. 406 answered with Question No. 397.

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Questions (407)

Thomas Gould

Question:

407. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons still awaiting pandemic unemployment payment arrears payments; the average time persons wait for a payment to be made; and the number of successful reviews upon request by month since April 2020, in tabular form. [27901/21]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has proven to be a vital income support to workers, thousands of whom lost their jobs virtually overnight. Since the introduction of the scheme over 23.7 million payments have been made to over 850,000 people providing income support of some 7.6 billion to date. Within 3 weeks of inception (on 7 April 2020) the scheme made payments to 507,000 people. Over the last 14 months, just under 2 million PUP claims were received and processed.

Arrears arise under the following broad headings. First, there may have been an initial time lag in the commencement of payments. The quickest and most efficient way to apply for PUP is online. Applications received up to Thursday evening are processed for payment that week with payment made on the following Tuesday. Second, arrears may also arise in respect of individual weeks where claims could not be processed due to incomplete applications or data mismatches. Third, arrears may be due where the rate on a claim has been increased with retrospective effect.

In response to the first two issues, my Department developed an automated process, which examines each case and looks at their overall entitlement to payment and matches this against their payment history. As a result, 286,000 people received arrears payments totalling €129 million on 1 December 2020 for unpaid weeks in the period from March to November 2020. Following this, my Department worked to ensure that this automated process can be efficiently replicated on an ongoing basis. Following the reintroduction of Covid health restrictions in December 2020, the numbers in receipt of the PUP increased by almost 200,000 between 22 December and 26 January 2021. Using the automated process outlined above, just over 90,000 people received an arrears payment totalling over €49 million on 20 April in respect of the period from December 2020 to April 2021. This process now runs on a monthly basis and I can inform the Deputy that just under 9,000 people are receiving arrears totalling over €3.7 million on 25 May 2021 in respect of the period from April to 13 May.

In relation to the third issue, cases have mainly emerged where new earnings data has been supplied to the Department or where earnings bands and earnings reference periods have been changed. In September 2020, approximately 15,000 individuals were due arrears of just under €10 million in respect of newly reported earnings, and these were paid at that time. In addition, in October 2020 just over 45,000 people were due arrears following changes to the earnings bands and associated reference periods introduced at that time. These arrears, totalling €14.7 million, were paid in February and March 2021.

In addition to the above, individual cases will arise where arrears may have to be awarded on a manual basis by my Department. However, given the overall number of persons in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the volume of associated transactions, manual processing of arrears payments on a wide scale is neither feasible nor efficient.

The total amount paid by way of arrears as outlined above represents just under 3% of total expenditure on the PUP to date, an indication of the highly effective and speedy response of my Department to the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 Pandemic. I can assure the Deputy that my Department is fully committed to ensuring the prompt and timely processing of applications for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, including any associated arrears.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Departmental Staff

Questions (408, 409)

Bríd Smith

Question:

408. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the position of employees in her Department who are seconded to other agencies during their work life; the way their salaries are treated for the purposes of pension contributions and entitlements; the reason a person (details supplied) who has been seconded from FÁS and then to her Department has had a high portion of their salary treated differently in relation to superannuation contributions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27904/21]

Bríd Smith

Question:

409. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection if an employee (details supplied) in her Department who is on secondment to a separate agency for extensive periods of time still enjoys the benefits of being an employee of her Department; if they have the right to initiate the employee grievance procedures of her Department as do other employees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27905/21]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 408 and 409 together.

In accordance with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) rules, civil servants on secondment maintain their terms and conditions of employment including salary during their period of secondment. Any additional payments made during that period are non-pensionable.

With regard to the individual in question, prior to her redeployment to my Department in 2012, she was employed by FAS as a clerical officer. She was seconded from FAS to another body for a number of years and was paid at her substantive grade of clerical officer plus an additional non-pensionable allowance, in accordance with DPER rules and the secondment agreement she entered into at that time. This arrangement has continued since she was redeployed to this Department.

During periods of secondment, civil servants may initiate grievances as appropriate under the Civil Service Grievance Procedure in accordance with Department of Finance Circular 11/2001.

Question No. 409 answered with Question No. 408.

Poverty Impact Assessment

Questions (410)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

410. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the poverty impact assessment of reduced jobseeker rates for 18 to 24 year olds as committed to in the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act 2019; and when the assessment will be published. [27913/21]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

My Department has completed a Poverty Impact Assessment on the reduced rates of jobseekers for young people, which I am currently considering.

Given the impact of the pandemic on employment, one of my priorities is to assist people, including young people, in getting back to work as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Under the July Jobs Stimulus, my Department, along with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, is:

- Expanding the caseload capacity of Intreo Centres, with the assignment of 100 job coaches to provide enhanced employment services and supports;

- Increasing the benefit of the JobsPlus recruitment subsidy to employers who hire young people. Under this scheme an employer receives the JobsPlus subsidy of €7,500 once they employ a young person (under 30 years of age) who has been unemployed for just 4 months. A higher subsidy of €10,000 is paid for recruitment of a person who was long term unemployed (over 12 months);

- Providing access to additional full-time and part-time education, including targeted short-term courses, with over 35,000 new education and training places for those currently unemployed;

- Providing incentives to employers to take on more apprentices, with the provision of a grant of €3,000 to employers for each new apprentice recruited;

- Facilitating access to the Back to Education Allowance and Back to Work Enterprise Allowance to those displaced by the pandemic and in receipt of PUP, by waiving the usual qualifying period of 3-9 months.

With regard to apprenticeships, the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 was launched last month by my colleague, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. The Action Plan sets out a five-year strategy to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment of reaching 10,000 new apprentice registrations per year by 2025. The plan provides a roadmap to a single apprenticeship system and new supports for employers and apprentices, which will prove attractive for many young people.

My Department is at an advanced stage in developing a new Work Placement Experience Programme for those out of work for at least six months, regardless of age. This programme will seek to encourage businesses provide jobseekers with the necessary workplace skills to compete in the labour market and to help break the vicious circle of “no job without experience, no experience without a job.” The programme aims to particularly incentivise the participation of young people through an attractive weekly uplift to their weekly welfare entitlement. It is anticipated that those currently on the Youth Employment Support Scheme will be permitted to transfer across to the new programme providing the participant and host are both agreeable. I expect to bring the Programme to government shortly for consideration and anticipate a launch of the programme shortly thereafter.

These initiatives will be further strengthened by Pathways to Work 2021-2025, which is currently being finalised by my Department. Pathways to Work is the Government’s national employment services strategy. It will set out how an expanded Public Employment Service will utilise its existing and expanded capacity to deliver effective services in a post-COVID labour market. This whole-of-Government strategy will seek to build upon those support measures outlined above as we assist young people on their journey to work.

I trust that this clarifies the position at this time for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (411)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

411. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an example of the way the disability allowance means test operates step by step in circumstances (details supplied); and the maximum figures for the spouse’s employment that are possible under the means test under such circumstances which would still entitle the disability allowance applicant to the maximum rate of disability allowance and at least €1 of disability allowance per week. [27930/21]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Eligibility for disability allowance (DA) is conditional on satisfying the medical criteria, a means test and being habitually resident in the state.

Where a person is married, in a civil partnership or co-habiting, the Department will assess the means of the person applying for a social assistance payment and the means of their partner when carrying out a means test.

In order to qualify for receipt of DA, the total household means must be below the means threshold. Payment is made up of a personal rate and increases in respect of the claimant's spouse/civil partner/cohabitant (partner) and each qualified child. The rate is reduced by €2.50 for every €2.50 of means. If the partner is on a social welfare payment of their own, an Increase for Qualified Adult IQA) with respect to their partner is not payable to the applicant and any means assessed are halved on both payments. The minimum weekly payment for DA is €2.50.

The main items that are assessable as means are cash income and capital. Income from spouse’s insurable employment is calculated by reducing their average weekly gross earnings by the average amount of PRSI, superannuation and any union dues paid. A further €20 per day (up to a maximum of €60 per week) is deducted and 60% of any remaining balance is assessed as weekly means.

The maximum earnings from employment vary from case to case depending on a range of factors including the number of days worked per week, the amount of deductions paid, and what the means threshold is for the family unit. Below is an example of how the DA means assessment is calculated for a household with the DA customer, spouse/partner and one child and who have no other household income or capital other than spouses earnings:

DA Means Assessment - Spouses employment income
Weekly income from spouses earnings after PRSI, Union & Superannuation deductions	€696.66
Less €20 per day up to 3 days (max €60 disregard)	€60.00
Balance	€636.66
60% of the balance to be assessed as means	€382.00 means
Means are rounded down to the nearest multiple of €2.50	€380.00 assessable

The means threshold or maximum DA entitlement in this case would be €382.70 which is made up of €203.00 personal rate, €134.70 increase for qualified adult and €45.00 increase for qualified child (aged over 12 years). The total means assessable are deducted from the maximum entitlement to arrive at the weekly amount payable. Therefore in this case the family would be entitled to a weekly DA payment of €2.70 (€382.70 - €380 = €2.70).

A weekly amount of €64.20 (after PRSI, Union & superannuation deductions) is the amount of spouses earnings that would allow the DA customer retain the maximum amount of DA in these family circumstances. The calculations would be as follows

DA Means Assessment - Spouses employment income
Weekly income from spouses earnings after PRSI, Union & Superannuation deductions	€64.20
Less €20 per day up to 3 days (max €60 disregard)	€60.00
Balance	€4.20
60% of the balance to be assessed as means	€2.50 means
Means are rounded down to the nearest multiple of €2.50	Zero assessable

Again the means threshold or maximum DA entitlement in this case would be €382.70 which is made up of €203.00 personal rate, €134.70 increase for qualified adult and €45.00 increase for qualified child (over 12 years). The total means assessable are deducted from the maximum entitlement to arrive at the , weekly amount payable. Therefore, in this case the family would be entitled to a weekly DA payment of €382.70 .

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Schemes

Questions (412)

Robert Troy

Question:

412. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection the avenues of assistance that are available to a self-employed person, paying S class contributions if they find themselves out of work for a period of time due to ill health or injury. [27937/21]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

There is a wide range of benefits available to people who make Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions. Entitlement to such benefits is dependent on the individual's social insurance contribution record, the class of social insurance paid as well as satisfying other qualification criteria relevant to the scheme being applied for.

In general, self-employed people make PRSI contributions at class S. Where all qualification criteria for the particular scheme are satisfied, this class of PRSI gives access to the following benefits -

- Adoptive Benefit,

- Guardian's Payment (Contributory),

- Invalidity Pension,

- Jobseeker's Benefit (Self-Employed),

- Maternity Benefit,

- Parent's Benefit,

- Partial Capacity Benefit (where in receipt of Invalidity Pension),

- Paternity Benefit,

- State Pension (Contributory),

- Treatment Benefit, and

- Widows, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension.

The benefits to which class S PRSI does not provide access are -

- Carer's Benefit,

- Health and Safety Benefit,

- Illness Benefit, and

- Occupational Injuries Benefits.

Although self-employed people are not usually eligible for Illness Benefit, an exception was made in relation to Covid-19, primarily as a public health measure. The purpose of the enhanced Illness Benefit payment in respect of Covid-19 is to encourage people to not go to work due to financial constraint when they should be in isolation.

There has been an extensive expansion of access to the range of social insurance benefits by self-employed social insurance contributors in recent years without any increase in the 4% rate of contribution made by them. In effect, self-employed contributors, in return for a contribution of 11 percentage points lower than the combined employer and employee contribution of 15.05% made in respect of employed contributors, have access to benefits which comprise over 90% of the value of all benefits available to employed contributors.

The Programme for Government commits to giving consideration to increasing all classes of PRSI over time to replenish the Social Insurance Fund to help pay for measures and changes to be agreed including to the State pension system, improvements in short-term sick pay benefits, parental leave benefits, pay-related jobseeker's benefit and treatment benefits.

The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. Supports provided under the SWA scheme can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as single exceptional needs payments (ENPs) and urgent needs payments (UNPs).

The basic supplementary welfare allowance provides immediate assistance for those in need who are awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment or do not qualify for payment under other State schemes.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Community Welfare Services

Questions (413)

Michael Ring

Question:

413. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social Protection if it is the community welfare officer who decides the location in which any item should be purchased following the assessment of quotations from applicants for funds; if the payment for any such items goes from the applicant or from the officer; if there is a recommendation and requirement that such items should be purchased locally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27962/21]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make an Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.

ENPs for goods and services should be based on the most reasonable price at which the article or service can be obtained by the customer. In order to establish this, three quotations should be supplied from customers applying for ENPs, where this is possible.

Payment of an ENP is made to the customer to meet a particular need but can be nominated to the supplier of goods or services with the permission of the customer. The contractual relationship is, however, between the customer and the supplier, and not the Department. It is not practice for officers administering the scheme to direct customers to specific suppliers.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Question No. 414 answered with Question No. 383.