Written Answers Nos. 959-977
959. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the wage subsidy scheme in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1498/22]
View answer988. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the wage subsidy scheme in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1511/22]
View answer1036. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the wage subsidy scheme in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1692/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 959, 988 and 1036 together.
The Wage Subsidy Scheme is an employment support to private sector employers. The objective of the scheme is to encourage employers to employ people with disabilities and thereby increase the numbers of people with disabilities obtaining and sustaining employment in the open labour market. The scheme provides financial incentives to private sector employers to hire people with a disability for between 21 and 39 subsidised hours per week under a contract of employment. There are currently 1,572 private sector employers availing of the subsidy. Estimated expenditure on the Wage Subsidy Scheme for 2022 is expected to be in the region of over €29 million.
As part of Budget 2022, the basic rate of subsidy was increased by €1.00 per hour to €6.30 per hour giving a total annual subsidy available of €12,776 per annum based on a 39-hour week. The contract of employment offered must be for a minimum of 6 months and the employee should be subject to and have the same rights as per the conditions of employment as any of the other employees. Included in these conditions is the requirement that the employee must be paid the going rate for the job which must be at least the statutory minimum wage.
The financial supports for employers are structured under three separate strands and companies could benefit under one strand or under two or three strands simultaneously depending on the number of people with a disability employed, as below: -
- Strand I is a general subsidy for any perceived productivity shortfall in excess of 20% for a person with a disability, in comparison to a colleague without a disability. The subsidy is based on the number of hours worked.
- Strand II subsidy is payable when an employer employs three or more people with disabilities who are supported by a Wage Subsidy Scheme Strand I payment. Strand II is intended to cover the additional supervisory, management and other work-based costs relating to such employees. This top-up payment is a percentage of the Strand I subsidy and is based on the overall number of employees with a disability employed under Strand I. It ranges from an additional 10% of wage subsidy for 3 to 6 employees with a disability to a maximum of 50% of wage subsidy for 23+ employees with a disability. Therefore, when an employer has 23 or more Wage Subsidy Scheme employees, a 50% top-up is applied to the hourly rate increasing the current payment rate to €9.45 per hour for each employee.
- Strand III subsidy enables employers who employ 25 or more workers with a disability on the Wage Subsidy Scheme to be eligible for a grant of up to €30,000 per year towards the expense of employing an Employment Assistance Officer to support these employees.
As the support is paid directly to employers and not to the people employed, the figures and county information set out below refers to the employers availing of the scheme.
Employers in Co Clare Availing of the Wage Subsidy Scheme
|
- |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Clare |
44 |
47 |
51 |
60 |
46 |
28 |
960. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the back to education allowance in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1499/22]
View answer989. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the back to education allowance in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1512/22]
View answer1029. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the back to education allowance in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1684/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 960, 989 and 1029 together.
Detailed information on scheme recipients, including recipients by county, are published each year by my Department in the Annual Statistical Report on Social Welfare Services, which is available at gov.ie/dsp/statistics. The Annual Statistical Report on Social Welfare Services in respect of 2021 is expected to be published in quarter 2 of this year.
The archive on gov.ie contains reports from 1998 through to the latest available report, which is 2020. Quarterly data by county, covering Q1 2014 through to Q3 2021, is also available, and is published on a quarterly basis through the national open data portal, data.gov.ie
The information requested by the Deputies is set out in the table below.
|
Scheme |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Back to Education |
256 |
208 |
192 |
140 |
130 |
115 |
961. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the State pension (contributory) in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1500/22]
View answer962. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the State pension (non-contributory) in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1501/22]
View answer990. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the State pension (contributory) in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1513/22]
View answer1030. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the State pension (contributory) in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1685/22]
View answer1031. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the State pension (non-contributory) in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1686/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 961, 962, 990, 1030 and 1031 together.
Detailed information on scheme recipients, including recipients by county, are published each year by my Department in the Annual Statistical Report on Social Welfare Services, which is available at gov.ie/dsp/statistics. The Annual Statistical Report on Social Welfare Services in respect of 2021 is expected to be published in quarter 2 of this year.
The archive on gov.ie contains reports from 1998 through to the latest available report, which is 2020. Quarterly data by county, covering Q1 2014 through to Q3 2021, is also available, and is published on a quarterly basis through the national open data portal, data.gov.ie
The information requested by the Deputies is set out in the table below.
|
- |
State Pension Contributory |
State Pension Non Contributory |
|
2016 |
8,502 |
3,375 |
|
2017 |
9,051 |
3,312 |
|
2018 |
9,605 |
2,286 |
|
2019 |
10,180 |
3,236 |
|
2020 |
10,707 |
3,201 |
|
2021 |
11,180 |
3,119 |
970. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the back to work enterprise allowance in County Clare in each of the years 2016 to 2021, inclusive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1533/22]
View answerThe Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) scheme offers support for people who are long-term unemployed and who are interested in self-employment as a route to entering the labour market. The scheme plays a vital role in supporting the development of new enterprises for the long term unemployed and is payable for a 24 month period from the commencement of their new business.
The following is the number of persons in receipt of the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance in County Clare as of 31 December in each of the years 2016 to 2021 inclusive:
|
Year |
Number of participants participating in BTWEA in County Clare |
|
2016 |
432 |
|
2017 |
348 |
|
2018 |
213 |
|
2019 |
146 |
|
2020 |
91 |
|
2021 |
95 |
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
