Written Answers Nos. 61-80
61. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider extending the 4 February 2022 deadline for community employment participants whose contracts are due to expire on this date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5398/22]
View answerCommunity Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme providing 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.
I am aware of the challenges caused by the Covid-19 public health restrictions and the resultant impact on many CE participants and schemes. As the Deputy may be aware, Minister Humphreys and I have taken a number of measures to support CE schemes and participants during the course of the pandemic.
In particular CE participants contracts were extended on a number of occasions. These contract extensions which are in place since October 2020, supported CE schemes at various stages of the pandemic so that they could maintain important community services. These contract extensions also ensured that participants had sufficient time to fully avail of the work experience and training opportunities affected by public health restrictions.
In light of the need to reintroduce some public health restrictions during December and January, I can confirm that CE & Tús participants contracts are being extended for a further eight weeks. CE and Tús participants will not now begin to leave schemes until after after 8th April. Participants with extended contacts will leave schemes in a phased coordinated manner over the following twelve months.
In a further change intended to assist with the transition from COVID emergency supports over the next period, participants, including those with extended contracts, may not be required to leave CE, where a suitable replacement has not yet been referred to the scheme. This transitionary provision will support schemes to retain services, with the higher-than-normal turnover of participants in 2022. Any extension under this provision must be approved by officials from the Department and consideration will be given to the impact of COVID on the recruitment of participants, services provided by schemes, along with recruitment and referral efforts.
Officials from my Department will continue to work with and support all CE schemes throughout the transitionary period as the extended contracts come to an end.
My priority and the priority of the Department is to have all CE and Tús schemes back providing normal services and supports to their long-term unemployed participants while delivering valuable services to local communities. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
63. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the proposals there are to improve the criteria for the free fuel allowance in cases in which a family member may return to live with a parent who normally resides on their own and is in receipt of the free fuel allowance on a temporary basis due to housing or domestic difficulties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5364/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from October to April, to 375,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022. 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.
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. To qualify for the fuel allowance payment a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including the household composition criteria. This ensures that the fuel allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.
To satisfy the household composition criteria an applicant may live alone or only with:
- a qualified spouse / civil partner / cohabitant or qualified child(ren); (if the qualified spouse is in receipt of half rate carers, in addition to the IQA payment, they may qualify for fuel allowance, subject to a means test) or
- a person in receipt of a qualifying payment who would be entitled to the allowance in their own right or
- a person who is in receipt of carer’s allowance or carer’s benefit in respect of providing full-time care and attention to the fuel allowance applicant or their qualified spouse / civil partner / cohabitant or qualified child(ren) or
- a person receiving pandemic unemployment payment (PUP), a person receiving short-term jobseeker's allowance (JA) or basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) - i.e., less than 391 days for JA and less than 15 months/456 days for SWA).
Fuel allowance is not payable if an applicant lives with any person, including a family member who is not covered by the criteria outlined.
Any decision to extend the qualifying criteria for Fuel Allowance in the manner outlined by the Deputy would change the targeted nature of the scheme and could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.
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.
64. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures that will be implemented to further reduce the timescale for the finalisation of appeals in the social welfare appeals office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5363/22]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
All claim decisions taken by the Department’s Deciding Officers and Designated Persons are appealable to the Chief Appeals Officer. In any year about 85% of all claims are awarded by the Department and just 1% are appealed. Nevertheless, the Department endeavors to ensure that these cases are dealt with as quickly as possible.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. Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years. As a result, average appeal processing times have generally improved between 2018 and 2021 from 30.0 weeks for an oral hearing in 2018 to 25.5 weeks in 2021, and from 24.8 weeks for a summary decision in 2018 to 13.9 weeks in 2021. Further improvements in appeals processing times is a priority for the Chief Appeals Officer. Currently, the number of Appeals Officers (full-time equivalent) is 40 which is similar to the position over the last two years. A number of new Appeals Officers have joined the Appeals Office over the past 12-18 months to replace staff leaving on retirement and for other reasons. Given the complexity of the appeals process it can take some time for new staff to be trained up and develop expertise. The desire to process appeals quickly has to be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent and of high quality and made in accordance with the legislative provisions and the general principles of fair procedures and natural justice. Where a claimant has been refused a social welfare payment, regardless of the scheme involved, and is appealing that decision, if their means are insufficient to meet their needs it is open to them to apply for supplementary welfare allowance in the interim. If their application for supplementary welfare allowance is refused, they can also appeal that decision. The supplementary welfare allowance appeal will be prioritised for attention within the Appeals Office as soon as the appeal file and submission is received from the Department. The processing times for appeals for 2020 and 2021 are contained in the table below. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Appeals Processing Times 2020-2021
|
Summary decision (weeks) |
Oral hearing (weeks) |
|
|
2020 |
15.5 |
27.1 |
|
2021 |
13.9 |
25.5 |
65. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to provide pension provision to carers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5016/22]
View answer79. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the provisions that her Department is taking to develop an individualised pension solution for family carers to ensure they have adequate income once they reach retirement age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5455/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 79 together.
The Pensions Commission was established in November 2020 to examine the sustainability of the State Pension system and the Social Insurance Fund, in fulfilment of a Programme for Government commitment. The Commission was an independent body comprised of knowledgeable and experienced academics, pension experts, members of civil society and representatives of workers and employers. Once it completed its work and fulfilled its obligations, the Commission was dissolved. The Commission's Report was published on 7th October 2021. The report, Technical Sub-Committee's working papers and submissions made to the Pensions Commission are available on the website, pensionscommission.gov.ie.
The Pensions Commission’s Report is a comprehensive report that takes account of an assessment of various analyses of population, labour force and expenditure projections; an examination of international approaches; and responses to an extensive consultation process. It has unambiguously established that the current State Pension system is not sustainable into the future and that changes are needed, and it has set out a wide range of recommendations in this regard. It also recommended that long-term carers (defined as caring for more than 20 years) should be given access to the State Pension (Contributory) by having retrospective contributions paid for them by the Exchequer for any gaps in their contribution history arising from that caring.
The report has been referred to the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands. That Committee published its views yesterday. I and my officials will obviously include these in our deliberations over the coming weeks.
Separately, as set out in its terms of reference, the Commission on Taxation and Welfare is considering the report of the Pensions Commission in the context of its review of potential changes to the social insurance system.
In the interests both of older people and future generations of older people, the Government intends to consider the comprehensive and far reaching recommendations in the Pensions Commission’s Report very carefully and holistically. My officials are examining each of the recommendations and are consulting across Government through the Cabinet Committee system. I think it is really important that we complete that work and get those views before reaching conclusions. I intend bringing a recommended response and implementation plan to Government by the end of March 2022.
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. This Government is committed to ensuring that this remains the case for current pensioners, those nearing State Pension age and today’s young workers including those who are only starting their careers.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.
67. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason she has not taken action to date to improve the situation for artists with disabilities who cannot avail of Arts Council grants or receive fair payment for their art work without risking their stable basic supports, such as the disability allowance or blind pension being taken away; and if she will take action by the end of 2022 to ensure this choice is not forced upon them again and that disability is no longer a barrier to full participation in artistic life. [2637/22]
View answerBoth Disability Allowance and Blind Pension are structured to support recipients to avail of opportunities to pursue their own employment ambitions, be that self-employment or insurable employment.
When an individual commences employment, they can avail of an income disregard of €140 per week. In addition, a 50% taper on earnings between €140 and €350 is also applied, i.e., 50% of earnings in this band are disregarded for the purpose of the means test. Earnings above €350 are assessed on a euro for euro basis. This upper limit will increase by €25 per week, to €375, from June 2022.
Grants are counted as means, but where grants are within the disregard limits, a payment will be available subject to satisfying the other conditions of the payment.
Persons in receipt of Disability Allowance or Blind Pension are also eligible to avail of the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme, which allows recipients to retain a percentage of their social welfare payment for up to 2 years. Once accepted onto the scheme the person retains 100% of their original payment in year one and 75% in year two.
In Budget 2022, I introduced a suite of measures designed to support people with disabilities:
- €5 increase across core social welfare payments/rates.
- Increase to the upper earnings disregard limit for Disability Allowance and the Blind Pension from €350 to €375 per week, effective from June 2022.
- Increase to the rate of Wage Subsidy Scheme, (equivalent to 60% of National Minimum Wage). This is a financial incentive to encourage employers to employ jobseekers with disabilities.
- Increase to the general weekly means disregard for Disability Allowance to €7.60.
- Increase to the Fuel Allowance of €5 to €33 per week. (The weekly means threshold was also increased by €20 from €100 to €120. This represents a 20% increase and enables more people to qualify for this support).
- Increase to the Living Alone Allowance of €3, from €19 to €22 per week. The Living Alone Allowance is an additional payment made each week to people aged 66 years or over who are living alone and in receipt of certain payments, including Disability Allowance and Blind Pension.
My Department regularly reviews its supports and payments schemes to ensure that they continue to meet their objectives, while any proposed changes have to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.
In addition, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has announced a wide range of measures to support the arts. Most recently, this has included the launch of funding of €6.6 million for the 2022 Creative Ireland Programme - Creative Communities initiative. This partnership between the department and all 31 local authorities will offer thousands of opportunities across Ireland for people of all ages to engage with creative projects in their local area. In 2021 this enabled local authorities to deliver nearly 1,500 community-led creative projects. This funding has proved to be an important flexible resource that has enabled local authorities to sustain and develop vibrant creative communities.
69. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to conduct reviews of the workplace adaptation grant and reasonable accommodation fund; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5489/22]
View answerMy Department provides a wide range of income and employment supports to assist jobseekers and employees with disabilities, and employers seeking to hire a person or support an existing employee with a disability.
One of these employment supports is the Reasonable Accommodation Fund (RAF), which includes the Workplace Equipment/Adaptation Grant. These are currently being reviewed by my Department as part of its commitments under the Comprehensive Employment Strategy (2015-2024). Stakeholders will have an opportunity to contribute to the review later in Quarter 1, 2022.
It is also important to note that the funding the Department makes available through the grants it administers does not impact or lessen the obligation on employers to provide reasonable accommodations. The Employment Equality Acts oblige employers to take reasonable steps to accommodate the needs of both employees and job applicants with disabilities.
70. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports available from her Department to assist persons with disabilities to access and remain in the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5392/22]
View answerMy Department provides a wide range of income and employment supports which have been designed to assist both jobseekers and existing employees with disabilities, and employers seeking to hire a person or support an existing employee with a disability.
Both Disability Allowance and Blind Pension are structured to support recipients to avail of opportunities to pursue their own employment ambitions, be that self-employment or insurable employment. When an individual commences employment, they can avail of an income disregard of €140 per week. In addition, a 50% taper on earnings between €140 and €350 is also applied. This upper limit will increase to €375 from June 2022.
The Department's Intreo Service is a single point of contact for all employment and income supports in the State. Intreo provides supports and services to both jobseekers and employers. Jobseekers, including jobseekers with disabilities, will gain assistance from case officers in accessing work and training.
The contracted Local Employment Services (LES) also deliver a case-managed employment service for all jobseekers, including those with disabilities, who avail of the services.
The Department recognises the additional challenges some jobseekers with disabilities may experience in securing and maintaining employment, and so contracts for the provision of services to help address these. Access to the service providers Employability is through referral from an Intreo Case Officer or LES Mediator. Jobseekers work with a job coach who provides pre-employment and in-employment support and assistance.
The Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB) scheme allows a person who has been in receipt of Invalidity Pension or Illness Benefit and who may not have full capacity for work, to enter or return to employment and continue to receive a partial or full payment. PCB has been designed so there are no restrictions or limits on earnings from employment or on the number of hours a person can work under the scheme.
The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme allows recipients to retain a percentage of their social welfare payment for up to 2 years. Persons in receipt of a wide range of income supports, including Disability Allowance and Blind Pension, are eligible for the scheme.
The Department contracts the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability to deliver the Willing Able Mentoring and GetAhead Programmes on its behalf. These programmes provide paid work experience and other supports for graduates with disabilities seeking to enter or re-enter employment.
The Wage Subsidy Scheme is a financial incentive targeted at private sector employers and is aimed at encouraging the employment of people with disabilities through the provision of a wage subsidy. The rate of subsidy, increased in Budget 2022, now starts at €6.30 per hour and the amount of the subsidy is based on the number of hours worked.
My Department also provides the Reasonable Accommodation Fund. The fund is comprised of four individual grants. The grants are available towards costs associated with retaining or attracting people with disabilities into the workplace. They cover a number of items such as workplace and equipment adaptation, occupational capacity and workplace job assessments, training, sign language interpreter or other interpreters and personal readers. There is also funding available for disability awareness training in the private sector.
Finally in addition to the increase in the earnings disregards, I introduced a suite of measures designed to support people with disabilities as follows:
- An increase to the general weekly means disregard entry point for Disability Allowance from €2.50 to €7.60. The effect of this measure will be to increase the weekly rate of payment by up to €5.10 per week for Disability Allowance recipients who have means.
- An increase to the WSS base subsidy, from €5.30 to €6.30 per hour. The new rate is a substantial contribution to the employer’s wage costs. In situations where an employer employs between 3 and 6 employees, a 10% top-up is applied to the hourly rate increasing the payment rate to €6.93 for each employee. In the case of an employer who has more than 23 employees the payment rate will be €9.45 per hour for each employee.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
72. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the free travel pass; the way that this has increased in the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5282/22]
View answerThe free travel scheme was introduced in 1967 to promote social inclusion and prevent the isolation of elderly and disabled people by taking advantage of free space on public transport services.
The free travel scheme is available to all persons aged over 66 and those under age 66 on certain qualified payments, who are living legally and permanently in the State. The scheme permits those who are eligible to travel for free on most CIE public transport services, Local Link, LUAS and a range of transport services offered by some 80 private operators countrywide.
The number of customers who were eligible to avail of free travel at the end of 2019 was 966,206; at the end of 2020 it was 999,007; and at the end of 2021 it was 1,022,001. When spousal and companion passes are taken into consideration, the number of free travel beneficiaries (at end 2021) increases to over 1.67 million.I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
73. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether credit unions and other financial institutions should be able to accept the public services card as one of a number of possible identification documents for opening of an account; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5385/22]
View answerSince 1998, when legislative provision was first made for the Public Services Card, it was always intended that it would be used widely across the public service to assist people in their dealings with public sector bodies. The list of public bodies that are authorised to use the PSC is set out in Schedule 5 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (as amended). Credit unions and other financial institutions are not public sector bodies and are therefore are not specified bodies for the purposes of the PSC, so it is not possible for a person to offer their PSC as proof of identity for this purpose.There are no plans to amend legislation to allow for the use of the PSC by non-public sector bodies.I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
74. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to increase the household benefits package given the rising costs of living; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5386/22]
View answerOne of the main factors driving the increased cost of living is rising energy costs. The Government is committed to supporting households to control and meet energy costs through a combination of monetary supports as well as investment to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock.
The Household Benefits package (HHB) is just one of a range of supports my Department provides to assist people with their fuel costs. Any decision to enhance the HHB package would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of overall budget negotiations.
The Fuel Allowance payment is a means tested payment and the criteria for fuel allowance are framed in order to direct the payment to those households who need it most. It is for this reason that the Government in recent Budgets has directed resources to this scheme rather than the HHB package.
As part of the overall welfare budget package of €600m in increases I secured for 2022, I was pleased to be able to increase the Fuel Allowance payment by €5 per week and the weekly income threshold for it by €20 effective from Budget night.
Other payments such as increases for qualified children, the living alone allowance and the working family payment are also shown to be effective in supporting those households who will be most challenged by increases in energy costs. Again I was pleased to be able to bring forward increases in these payments, valued at €98m in a full year, as part of Budget 2022.
The recently announced Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Payment is a key measure being developed by the Government to help mitigate the effects of the recent unprecedented rise in electricity prices. The scheme, under the auspices of the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications and supervised by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities will be paid in addition to the gas and electricity element of the HHB package to qualifying households. Approximately 2.1m households will benefit by €100 each from the new scheme. Primary and secondary legislation will be required and it is expected that payments will begin in Quarter 1 2022.
In addition to the regular weekly and monthly payments, the Department can also support people through the use of discretionary payments including through the Exceptional Needs Payment and through a special heating supplement under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
75. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Social Protection when the changes to the domiciliary care allowance and carer’s allowance payments in respect of children in hospital will take effect; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5014/22]
View answerThis measure will allow for Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) and associated Carers payments to be paid for up to six months in respect of a child who is admitted to hospital full-time for an extended period. Currently these supports are paid for up to a maximum of 13 weeks (three months).
This measure will address the issue with the relatively small number of children who are in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance before they are admitted to hospital for an extended period. The necessary steps required to provide for these measures are currently being finalised and will enable the change outlined to become effective in the coming weeks. I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
76. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Social Protection her views regarding the level of abuse by employers of the Work Placement Experience Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5469/22]
View answerWPEP is a key policy initiative under the Government's national employment services strategy; Pathways to Work 2021-2025. It is a funded work placement scheme to provide work experience for 10,000 jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than six months, including time spent on the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP). Participation on WPEP is entirely voluntary. All participants are paid €311 per week plus any social welfare increases for qualified adults and children.
All host organisations and individual placements are checked for compliance and quality assurance purposes prior to being advertised on the Department’s recruitment website, JobsIreland.ie. A placement is not approved or published if the placement does not meet the stringent criteria set for the programme.
During placements there is close monitoring of participants and host organisations to ensure all the conditions of the scheme are being met, thereby ensuring that any potential difficulties are identified and resolved. Host organisations must complete monthly compliance checklists for all placements and return the completed checklists to my Department. My Department also undertakes two monitoring meetings to ensure that the terms and conditions of the programme are being fulfilled by both host organisations and participants.
Any issues relating to participation on the WPEP are dealt by the Department’s case officers as part of the ongoing monitoring of the programme and the individual placement.
Since the programme was launched July 2021, these arrangements have been working very well for the benefit of unemployed persons gaining valuable work experience which have been demonstrated to improve their long term employment prospects. Where issues arise, I am satisfied that there are procedures in place to deal with and resolve these issues quickly. To date, there is no evidence of any level of abuse by employers of the programme.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
78. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if, in view of the rapidly rising cost of living she will reverse the cuts to the pandemic unemployment payment and cancel planned future cuts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5403/22]
View answer110. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection her proposals in relation to the future of the pandemic unemployment payment in view of the changed circumstances in relation to Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4638/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 110 together.
Expenditure on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme has exceeded €9 billion since its introduction in March 2020. This demonstrates the Government’s clear commitment to workers who lost employment during the pandemic.
There has been a significant reduction in the number of recipients who are in receipt of the PUP from a peak of 605,000 in May 2020, over 481,000 in February 2021 to approximately 75,500 this week. Following the recent Government decision to remove restrictions with effect from 22 January we expect many more thousands of workers to return to work.
As a result of the lifting of restrictions, PUP has been closed to new applications and the Government has approved the winding-down of the scheme over the coming months. The process of moving recipients to standard social welfare terms on a gradual basis, which had commenced from September 2021, will continue. From 8 March 2022, anyone in receipt of PUP whose rate was higher than €208 will move to the standard weekly rate of €208. Remaining recipients will then commence transitioning to standard social welfare terms, and if eligible, will move onto a jobseeker payment from 5 April 2022.
It is important in the interest of fairness and equity that standard social welfare standards are restored as the need for this emergency support diminishes, and therefore I have no plans to reverse these decisions. Where customers are unable to return to employment, supports are available from my Department’s Public Employments Service to assist them to find employment or retrain.
As part of Budget 2022 Government committed to very significant increases in a targeted package of social protection supports. These include an increase to the Qualified Child Payment of €2 per week for children under 12 and €3 per week for children over 12, an increase in the Living Alone Allowance of €3 per week, an increase to the Fuel Allowance of €5 per week combined with a broadening of the threshold for eligibility and an increase in the income threshold of the Working Family Payment of €10 per week. The total cost of these interventions is projected at €146m in 2022.
In addition, I provided for a €5 weekly increase on standard weekly social welfare rates. Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Exceptional Needs Payments may be made to help meet an essential cost which customers are unable to meet out of their own resources.
80. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which she and her Department expect to be in a position to manage the transition from a high level of dependence and support associated with Covid-19 to a return to work maintaining support where needed and reducing dependency on social welfare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5339/22]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the COVID-19 pandemic represented an abrupt and adverse shock to Ireland’s labour market, quite unlike any other, and resulted in an unprecedented demand for financial supports from the State. Latest available figures from the CSO suggest that Government’s pandemic related supports – the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and Temporary/Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (T/EWSS) – have, in total, supported over 1.4 million people since their introduction in March 2020.
Since the later half of 2021 however, Ireland’s labour market and economy has seen a sharp recovery as public health restrictions have eased, businesses reopened, and people returned to work. Employment figures from the CSO up to end-September 2021 suggest that the number of people employed in Ireland had in fact increased from pre-COVID-19 levels. In line with these positive developments, the number of people dependent on pandemic supports, particularly the PUP, have declined considerably. Recent analysis published by my Department showed that at least 73 percent of former PUP recipients were back in work as of mid-September 2021.
Latest figures from my Department indicate that 75,413 are currently in receipt of the PUP, approximately 22,000 of whom entered following the latest restrictions in early December. However, I expect the vast majority of these individuals to quickly return to employment following the Government’s recent decision to remove the majority of remaining public health restrictions. Moreover, in line with the easing of these restrictions, PUP is now closed to new entrants and the remaining PUP recipients will gradually transition to the jobseeker terms in the coming months.
While overall dependence on COVID-19 supports has declined hugely, I am acutely aware that there will be a significant number of people who will have permanently lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. It is also important that we do not forget those who were unemployed prior to COVID-19 and those facing higher barriers to employment. All these people will need intensive support to help them regain their footing in the labour market and return to work.
It was with this core objective in mind that Pathways to Work 2021–2025 – the Government’s new employment services strategy –was published in July 2021. It set out provisions to expand the caseload capacity of the Intreo Public Employment Service, through a 50 percent increase in the number of Intreo Case Officers.
Under Pathways to Work, my Department also introduced a series of employment supports to help individuals return to employment, to reskill and to find new jobs. These include:
- A new paid Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP), which is a 6 month, 30 hour per week voluntary work experience programme, to provide 10,000 unemployed people with the opportunity to gain valuable on-the-job experience.
- Expanding the JobsPlus scheme to 8,000 places and enhancing the incentive to recruit young jobseekers.
- Funding 50,000 additional places in further and higher education, including via Skills to Compete, Skillnet Ireland, Springboard+ and the Human Capital Initiative.
- Increased funding for the Back to Education scheme which leads to second and third level qualifications, with a target of increasing participation in education programmes to 7,700.
- The provision of an extra 3,000 places on State Employment Schemes, including Community Employment, to support long term unemployed people, get back to work.
- An increase in the maximum value of the Training Support Grant available via Intreo from €500 to €1,000 to help over 12,500 jobseekers per annum access relevant and accredited training programmes.
While the Pathways to Work strategy is still in its early stages of implementation and COVID-19 related supports still being gradually unwound, I am confident that my Department and Intreo have the necessary resources and programme capacity to support all those in need of support re-enter the workforce. In doing so, we will further reduce dependency on State supports, while maintaining welfare support for those that need it most.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
