Written Answers Nos. 121-140
121. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Social Protection the work that is being undertaken by her Department to present employment opportunities for jobseekers to address labour shortages in the economy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34902/22]
View answer169. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Social Protection the work that is being carried out by her Department to match jobseekers with employment opportunities in sectors such as hospitality and construction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34925/22]
View answer171. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection the work that is being carried out by her Department to match jobseekers with employment opportunities to help address labour shortages in the economy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34872/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 121, 169 and 171 together.
Government's employment services strategy is set out under Pathways to Work 2021 - 2025.
This strategy sets out how my Department will deliver our public employment service through Intreo and contracted service providers. The core objective of the public employment service is to help match jobseekers with employment opportunities as the economy recovers from COVID. This strategy is working - with the unemployment rate now at pre-COVID levels - at 4.8%.
In fact, we now have record numbers of people in the labour force - the highest the State has ever recorded with over 2.5 million people at work in quarter 1, 2022.
This brings its own challenges, with a much tighter labour supply than anticipated. I am aware that some employers are now facing difficulties recruiting staff. This means that the priority of our public employment service is to work closely with employers so that they recruit from persons on the Live Register. Currently there are some 186,821 people on the Live Register.
Intreo Employment Services Officers and job coaches work with jobseekers to support them into jobs. Dedicated Employer Relations Officers work with employers to help meet their recruitment needs. Since the beginning of the year, 118 recruitment events have taken place, including 23 job fairs. These include some specific events for the hospitality and construction sectors. The Department has a dedicated team working under Government's Housing For All, Future Building Initiative to specifically recruit to construction jobs, from jobseekers in Ireland and abroad.
The Department also has a number of schemes to encourage employers to provide work experience and recruit directly from persons on the Live Register. Schemes include the Work Placement Experience Programme and JobsPlus.
My Department also provides an online jobs portal Jobsireland to enable employers to advertise their job vacancies and for jobseekers to apply for jobs. I encourage all employers with vacancies and anyone looking for work to register on this website. This is in addition to engaging with their local Intreo Office and availing of the full range of services they, along with contracted service providers, have available to assist both employers and jobseekers.
122. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the community employment, TUS and rural social schemes and the supports that are available from her Department to help persons back to work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38525/22]
View answerThe Department of Social Protection operates a number of employment support schemes for long term unemployed persons which also assist communities across the country in the provision of vital services. Currently, there are some 24,000 participants engaged on the two schemes supporting long term unemployed persons back to work; Community Employment and Tús.
CE is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis.
Tús is a community work placement initiative that provides short-term, quality work opportunities in community and voluntary sectors for those who are unemployed for more than a year.
In addition, the rural social scheme (RSS) is an income support initiative that provides part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are underemployed in their primary occupation. There are just under 2,900 participants on RSS.
In order to assist schemes to maintain services in the current tight labour market, Minister Humphreys and I recently announced a number of reforms to CE, Tús and RSS. These will improve recruitment, remove the six year time limit on RSS for all participants while continuing the practice whereby CE placements can be extended until suitable replacements are available to fill vacancies. These reforms will ensure that all RSS participants can now remain on the scheme until they reach state pension age and will improve access to employment schemes in general.
Feedback received to date in relation to all of the reforms has been positive and it is expected that these, in addition to changes introduced earlier this year, will have a positive impact at individual scheme level over the coming months.
In addition to these employment supports for long term unemployed, Government is supporting a range of initiatives to assist people back to work; as outlined under the Economic Recovery Plan and national employment services strategy, ‘Pathways to Work 2021-2025’. With the rate of unemployment now at just under 5% - these initiatives are working well.
Initiatives to support unemployed people back to work include an expanded JobsPlus recruitment subsidy scheme, an additional 50,000 education and training places, and the new Work Placement Experience Programme. My department has a team of Intreo Case Officers and Job Coaches nationwide providing a one-to-one career advice service and tailored employment supports to jobseekers.
In conclusion, my department is fully committed to the future of employment support programmes and will continue to support and improve programmes for the benefit of long term unemployed participants and given the valuable contribution being made to local communities through the provision of services. I am also confident that the implementation of the national and local policy measures and responses outlined above will assist the full range of jobseekers find a pathway back to employment.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
123. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on auto enrolment; when the draft legislation is expected to be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34929/22]
View answerIn March I announced that Government approval had been given to the final design principles for the auto-enrolment (AE) retirement savings system. A detailed explanatory paper on the new system has been published on www.gov.ie.
The system is expected to become operational in early 2024, and will automatically enrol approximately 750,000 employees at the outset. These are employees who are aged between 23 and 60 years, earning over €20,000 across all their employments, and who are not already enrolled in an occupational pension scheme.
Contributions will be paid by employees through a payroll deduction and matched by their employers. Contributions will be calculated as a percentage of the employee’s gross income from employment; starting at 1.5% and rising every three years to a maximum of 6% by year 10 onwards. The State will also contribute a top-up financial incentive at a rate of €1 for every €3 saved by the employee.
A new Central Processing Authority will be set up to administer the system. This will almost entirely eliminate any administrative burden on employers and will facilitate a ‘pot-follows-member’ approach whereby workers will have one growing pension pot across employments and throughout their working life.
Commercial registered providers of financial investment services, contracted following an open tender process, will provide a well-balanced and diversified default investment fund, plus three other fund options for employees who want to invest their money at different levels of risk.
The implementation phase is well underway, with a project team in the Department of Social Protection progressing a range of elements in the overall plan. This work includes the preparation of a general scheme of a bill to establish the automatic enrolment system on a statutory basis.
To this end, I intend to bring a Memo to Government shortly seeking approval for the drafting of this legislation as a matter of priority, with a view to introducing the draft bill into the Oireachtas later this year.
I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
124. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which she expects the various schemes offered by her Department to be available to urban or rural communities in a manner which can best address the needs of the respective communities on an ongoing basis in the coming year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34899/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will know, my department operates a number of employment support schemes which assist communities across the country by providing services. Currently, there are some 27,000 people and 1,649 supervisors employed on the three main schemes: community employment (CE), Tús and the Rural Social Scheme (RSS). Overall, these schemes have a budget allocation of €540 million in 2022.
CE and Tús are active labour market programmes providing opportunities for eligible long term unemployed person to engage in useful work in their communities. Work undertaken by participants on these schemes ranges from the delivery of meals on wheels, the provision of childcare, caretaking and environmental works and other community and voluntary services. Generally persons can remain on schemes for one, three or six years depending on their age and a number of other factors.
The RSS is an income support initiative that provides part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen who are underemployed in their primary occupation.
I have been hugely impressed by the range and value of the work undertaken on these schemes, many of which I have had the opportunity to visit and witness at first hand. As with all other sectors of society, schemes face challenges as we move beyond COVID. Minister Humphreys and I introduced changes to CE at the start of this year in order to support schemes with the increased turnover of participants with the phasing out of COVID related extended contracts. These changes are assisting schemes maintain services; as those over 60 years of age can now remain on CE and RSS retirement age along with a number of other changes, that reduced the numbers exiting schemes while improving the referral process. These changes provided schemes with certainty as regards their capacity to continue to maintain services.
However, recruitment to schemes to fill all vacancies remain a challenge. Vacancies do exist across schemes. Recent very positive employment trends, with the reduction in unemployment and numbers long term unemployed does impact on recruitment to these schemes. It means that there is a smaller pool of candidates to fill available places. These challenges are similar to those facing employers in the open labour market.
In order to further assist schemes maintain services in this tight labour market, Minister Humphreys informed Government at the end of June on additional measures we are now introducing to CE, Tús and RSS. These will improve recruitment, remove the six year time limit on RSS for all participants while continuing the practice whereby placements can be extended until suitable replacements are available to fill vacancies. These reforms will ensure that schemes have sufficient participants to continue to deliver services across the county; in both urban and rural areas.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
125. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the uses for which exceptional needs payments may be applied given that some applications may not qualify under the heading they might have indicated; the number that have been received and approved in 2022 to date; if discretion or flexibility is provided regarding the 30 hour rule bearing in mind those who work 30-hours or more per week cannot access the payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37778/22]
View answerUnder the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department can make additional needs payments to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from the client’s own resources and are deemed to be necessary.
An exceptional needs Payment (ENP) is a single payment to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. An urgent needs payment (UNP) may be made to persons who may not normally qualify for supplementary welfare allowance but who have an urgent need which they cannot meet from their own resources or where an alternative is not available at that time.
The 30 hour rule is not applicable to all additional needs payments. Where someone works above the 30 hour limit, the urgent needs payment is appropriate, as it is not limited to those working less than 30 hours. Urgent needs payments can be made on a flexible basis, taking into account all the relevant circumstances of the person, and without the 30 hour limit applying.
Payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme, taking into account the requirements of the legislation, and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.
The scheme is demand led. The Government has provided funding of €45.75 million for the provision of exceptional and urgent needs that are provided for as Additional Needs Payment in 2022. A further provision of €5.3 million has been provided for SWA Supplements in 2022 (excluding rent supplement).
Table 1 shows the number of ENP/UNP applications received/awarded to-date in 2022 (end of June).
This represents a snapshot of claim activity taken at 4th July 2022 and is subject to change. The figures do not capture payments that are cancelled, payments that go out of date or overpayments recouped.
Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to an additional needs payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
TABLE 1 – Number of ENP/UNP applications received/awarded to-date in 2022 (to end of June)
|
Year |
Received |
Awarded |
|
2022 (to end of June) |
40,718 |
36,987 |
126. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the tender process for all public employment services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34926/22]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that the preferred bidders for the new Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Services and the Intreo Partner National Employment Services have today been notified.
The Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Service is already operational, under phase one in four lots covering seven counties; Donegal, Sligo & Leitrim, Laois and Offaly an Longford & Westmeath. It specialises in engaging with those farthest from the labour market, often with multiple barriers to employment.
Phase 2 of this process is now at an advanced stage, with the notification of the preferred bidders. The request for tender was issued on 21 December last, with an extended deadline of 25 April. An evaluation team has been convened, the preferred bidders are being notified and the contracting process can commence.
All LES and Job Club contractors in the phase 2 area have been offered a contract extension to end-August to ensure continuity of services to jobseekers.
Parallel to this process, the procurement of an Intreo Partners National Employment Service to engage primarily with those on the Live Register for one year, having completed their engagement with Intreo caseworkers. This service is being procured across three lots State-wide and those preferred bidders have also been notified today. This will be followed by contract agreement and the commencement of referrals.
These procurement processes were greatly informed by continual engagement with stakeholders. The Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Service in particular, was enhanced significantly in phase 2, with greater financial certainty for future contractors ensured, for example, by increased guaranteed minimum referrals, clarity regarding advance payments and improved transparency around payment models and the front-loading of staged payments for client engagement.
I look forward to the delivery of this significant expansion of employment services across the State and its enhanced ability to engage with and support the long-term unemployed with the purpose of increasing labour market participation and reducing poverty levels.
127. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider allowing persons on illness benefit to qualify under means testing for the fuel allowance given the current cost-of-living crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34752/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022. The purpose of this payment is to assist qualifying households with their energy costs.
Qualifying payments for Fuel Allowance are those payments that are considered long term payments and an applicant must also satisfy a means test. People on long term payments are unlikely to have additional resources of their own and are more vulnerable to poverty, including energy poverty. It is for this reason that the Department allocates additional payments, supports and resources to help this cohort of claimants.
In the vast majority of cases, Illness Benefit is a short-term payment for those who are certified by their GP as needing to take time out from their employment due to illness and, accordingly, is not a qualifying payment for Fuel Allowance.
People who are permanently incapable of work may be eligible for Invalidity Pension, subject to satisfying the relevant social insurance and medical criteria. Those who are substantially restricted in undertaking suitable employment arising from a medical condition may be eligible for the means-tested Disability Allowance, subject to meeting the relevant medical criteria. Recipients of both of these payments, subject to satisfying all qualifying conditions, may be eligible for Fuel Allowance.
Any decision to allow those in receipt of a short-term payment such as Illness Benefit to receive the Fuel Allowance payment would represent a fundamental change to the nature of the scheme. As such, it would have to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Additional 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.
128. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department will extend the Reasonable Accommodation Fund to self-employed persons with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34585/22]
View answerIn addition to providing income supports, my Department also provides a wide range of employment-related supports for both Jobseekers with disabilities and persons with disabilities in employment.
Advice on the full range of supports and services available can be obtained through the department's nationwide network of Intreo centres and on Gov.ie.
The Reasonable Accommodation Fund is comprised of four grants, which are available through Intreo centres. The primary grant under the scheme, the Workplace Equipment/Adaptation Grant, is available were a person is self-employed, while the other grants are designed for jobseekers (Job Interview Interpreter Grant), employees (the personal reader grant) and employers (the employee retention grant).
Where a person with a disability has been offered employment, is in employment or is self-employed and requires a more accessible workplace or adapted equipment to do the job, s/he or the employer may be able to get a grant towards the costs of adapting premises or equipment. A maximum grant of €6,350 is available towards the cost of adaptations to premises or equipment. Applications in excess of this sum are considered on an individual basis up to a maximum of €9,523 if specialist training for assistive technology is required.
It is important to note, that my Department is committed to improving its employment supports where people are facing additional challenges accessing or retaining employment.
In this context, the Department is currently reviewing the Reasonable Accommodation Fund grants. The review is to see how to improve the effectiveness of the grants and to identify gaps in provision. It also aims to improve the application and payment processes. As part of this review, a public consultation process was undertaken from the end of March to mid-May this year. The Department is now analysing the responses received and in particular on the views of disabled people and employers, with a report to be completed in Q3.
129. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will examine the possibility of ceasing her Department's current policy of removing persons from the fuel allowance qualification if their income increases marginally especially given the current energy cost crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34962/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. 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.
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 means test.
Fuel allowance is not payable if an applicant does not satisfy all relevant qualifying criteria. To continue paying Fuel Allowance when a person no longer satisfies the qualifying criteria would change the targeted nature of the payment.
In Budget 2022, and with immediate effect from Budget week, the Government increased the weekly means threshold for the Fuel Allowance scheme by €20. The brought the threshold to €120 above the appropriate rate of State Pension Contributory enabling more people to qualify for this support.
Any proposal to change the Fuel Allowance scheme in the manner outlined by the Deputy can only be considered in the context of the overall policy and budgetary situation.
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Additional 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.
130. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the planned review to the rural social scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38135/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware an Intergovernmental Departmental Review (IDG) Report on employment support schemes recommended that a review be undertaken of the operational responsibility for RSS. It was also intended that this would include a review of the impact of the six year time limit for participation on the scheme - the so-called six year rule which was introduced in 2017.
Changes announced last December, allowed RSS participants who turn 60 to remain on the scheme until reaching state pension age. This benefited 390 people who would otherwise have to leave the scheme when they completed 6 years, from 2023. While this made a difference, Minister Humphreys and I were aware that the six-year rule continued to be seen as an issue for other participants who commenced since February 2017 and could pose challenges for schemes to maintain services in rural areas, given the number of new entrants onto the scheme since the start of the year.
Accordingly, and in advance of the completion of a review, Minister Humphreys informed Government at the end of June that the six-year rule which applied to participants who joined the RSS scheme since February 2017 has been removed. This change has been made in recognition of the impact the rule would have on participants, but also on the valuable services provided to rural communities over the coming years. This latest change means that a further 920 participants who would have been impacted by the rule, can remain on the scheme until they reach state pension age, as long as they continue to satisfy the eligibility requirements.
Therefore, the review of the RSS scheme no longer needs to consider the operation of the 6-year rule. Minister Humphreys and I have asked the Department in consultation with other relevant Departments, to look at where operational responsibility and funding for employment schemes and RSS, which are increasingly focused on providing services in local communities, should be best placed. While this somewhat changes the context in which the RSS review will take place - the intention is to still review specific issues that relate to this scheme. This work has not yet commenced, but it is intended that it will do so during the later months of this year.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
131. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will increase the back-to-school allowance to assist families with the cost-of-living. [34873/22]
View answerThe Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September.
The allowance is payable for eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child increase is being paid. It is also payable to those between the ages of 18 and 22 who are in full-time second level education and in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid.
To qualify for the allowance a person must meet a number of conditions, including an income limit test.
The income limits for one parent families were increased this year to bring them in line with the income limits for two parent families, widening the eligibility for that group of customers. The income limits were also increased to ensure that the increases in weekly social protection payments rates introduced in Budget 2022 would not negatively impact on entitlement to the allowance.
The rates of payment were increased this year by €10 to €160 for children aged 4 to 11 and to €285 for children aged 12 years and over in second level education.
On 5 July 2022, it was announced that the BSCFA will be increased by a further €100 for each eligible child under the scheme. Consequently, the amount being paid for each qualified child aged 4–11 years will be €260 and the rate payable for each eligible child aged 12 and over will be €385. This is a one off-measure for 2022 to assist families with back to school costs in the current year.
Applications which fall outside the normal rules of the scheme may be considered for additional needs payments under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme by the officers administering this scheme in the normal way.
The Government is acutely aware of recent price increases and their impact on households who are dependent on social welfare. For this reason, this Government did not await a further budget cycle to address these challenges but acted early. Overall, the tax and spending measures we have introduced to ease the burden and provide support to those most in need have amounted to €2.4 billion.
The Government continues to monitor the situation carefully in preparation for the Budget later this year. I will be meeting a range of NGOs at the Department's pre-budget forum later this month and will listen carefully to the views expressed.
This Government has provided timely, targeted support and I will continue to prioritise evidence-based measures aimed at supporting the most vulnerable in our society.
132. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on the adequacy of the current policy which directs that the means test for the disability allowance and carer’s allowance assesses gross income as opposed to net income; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34912/22]
View answerSocial welfare legislation provides that means tests take account of the income and assets of the person (and their spouse or partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme. The means assessment includes income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions and maintenance payments. It also includes property owned other than the family home and capital such as savings, shares, and other investments.
Following the improvements made in Budget 2022, income disregards for Carer’s Allowance are €350 per week for a single person and €750 per week for a couple. These are the highest weekly income disregards within the social protection system and are equivalent to about €19 per hour and €40 per hour respectively for a person working the maximum number of hours under the carer's scheme. After the disregards are applied, the vast majority of Carer’s Allowance recipients are assessed with no means and receive the full rate of payment.
In the case of Disability Allowance, a claimant can work and earn up to €140 a week without their Disability Allowance payment being affected. If a claimant earns more than €140 a week, 50% of their earnings between €140 and €375 will not be taken into account in the Disability Allowance means test.
If net rather than gross income was assessed for Carer's Allowance or Disability Allowance, it would mean that changes in tax rates or tax reliefs could change the claimant’s rate of Carer’s Allowance and significantly increase the complexity of the means assessment and inevitably prolong the assessment process.
People pay varying amounts of tax depending on their level of earnings and personal circumstances. Allowing taxation as a deduction in the means test could mean that the social welfare system, in effect, refunds a person's tax liability. Also, a person may see the benefit of a reduction in their tax bill, which would increase their net pay, eroded through an associated reduction in their social welfare payment.
It would also have significant budgetary implications and would give rise to inconsistencies in how means tests are applied across schemes.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
133. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to an anomaly in the school meals programme whereby newly added schools for the DEIS programme for September 2022 do not qualify for the scheme due to funding shortages; the steps that she will take to bridge this gap in funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34292/22]
View answer519. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans for the continued expansion of the hot school meals programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34868/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 519 together.
The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,800 schools and organisations benefitting 290,000 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.
A budget of €68.1 million has been provided for the scheme in 2022.
In recent years entry to the school meals programme has been confined to DEIS schools in addition to schools identified as having levels of concentrated disadvantage that would benefit from access to the programme.
Budget 2022 provided for the hot school meals to be extended from January 2022 to the remaining 81 DEIS schools that had expressed an interest in the programme but which were not yet participating. As a result, the number of children in receipt of the hot school meal in June 2022 was 54,266. The full year cost for hot school meals for 54,266 children is €28m.
In March 2022, the Minister for Education announced an extension of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in School to an additional 273 primary and 37 post-primary schools from September 2022.
I have recently announced that the provision of the hot school meal option will be extended to all new DEIS primary schools and the cold lunch option to all new DEIS secondary schools at a full year cost of €26m and benefitting some 60,000 children. However, as 31 of these schools are already in receipt of some funding, the additional cost of providing these options is €23.5m in a full year, with the first-year cost from September to December of €9.5m.
I am committed to continuing to grow the hot school meals element of the school meals programme for DEIS schools and building further on the significant extension announced. In this regard, I have commissioned an evaluation of the school meals programme to be undertaken in 2022 to inform future policy decisions on the scheme.
I trust that this clarifies the position.
134. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Social Protection the proportion of persons on the contributory pension and on the invalidity pension who qualify for the fuel allowance scheme; if many are excluded who are experiencing fuel poverty; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34938/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs. The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full. The payment is made over the winter season at the weekly rate of €33.00 or, if preferred, by way of two lump sum payments. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually.
As at the end of December 2021, there were almost 375,000 recipients of Fuel Allowance. At the end of 2021, almost 17% (or 78,378 of 468,734) State pension contributory recipients qualified for Fuel Allowance, and 29% (or 16,777 of 57,874) Invalidity pension recipients qualified for the payment.
The more common reasons for unsuccessful Fuel Allowance applications include where the means of the customer or household exceeds the permissible threshold; where the applicant resides with a non-qualified person (for example, someone in employment); or where the applicant resides with another person who is already in receipt of Fuel Allowance. Where an application is disallowed, it is open to the person to re-apply if there is a change in their circumstances.
The Government is acutely aware of the increase in consumer prices in recent months, especially the increase in fuel and other energy prices. To help mitigate the effects of these rising costs, the Government announced additional expenditure measures of €505 million. As part of these measures, I announced an additional lump sum payment of €125 to households in receipt of the fuel allowance payment. This additional lump sum was paid in March 2022.
The National Energy Security Framework made provision for a further additional lump sum payment of €100 to be paid to all households in receipt of fuel allowance in the last week of the (2021/22) fuel allowance season – a payment equivalent to over 3 weeks additional fuel allowance. This additional €100 fuel allowance payment was paid in May 2022.
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, discretionary payments can be made to help people who face difficulties with the cost of heating their homes. A Heating Supplement may be paid to assist people with exceptional heating costs due to ill health or infirmity who cannot meet those costs. An Additional Needs Payment (ANP) may be made to help a person meet an essential, once-off cost which they are unable to meet out of their own resources, including exceptional heating costs. An ANP may also be payable to those not getting a social welfare payment and those on low incomes. Decisions on such payments are made on a case-by-case basis.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
136. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 87 of 17 May 2022, the status of phase 2 of the procurement process for the new local area employment service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34631/22]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that the preferred bidders for the new Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Services have today been notified, bringing closer the date of a roll-out of phase 2 employment services. In particular, specialised employment services for those farthest from the labour market - previously available in just twelve counties - will soon be available State-wide for the first time.
This procurement process was preceded by extensive consultation with all stakeholders, including the community sector providers and their representative body, the ILDN. Each existing provider was visited on site by my officials and asked for their views on the way forward for the best provision of employment services while there has also been engagement with the staff representative bodies. In addition, the external consultants engaged by the Department to assist in the restructuring of these services also consulted with existing providers.
My Department extended the deadline for the Requests for Tenders to 25 April to ensure all interested parties, including the community sector, had sufficient time to prepare quality tender responses that reflect their experience and capacity to deliver a quality service.
My Department will now engage with the preferred bidders with a view to signing contracts and establishing new services at the earliest opportunity.
137. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has given further consideration to her Department providing support with redundancy payments for local employment service and jobs club branches when their services cease; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38132/22]
View answerMy Department has, since 2019, been developing a new model of externally provided public employment services. This is a legal requirement to ensure such services are procured through a competitive open procurement process.
Since the beginning of this process in 2019, my Department has engaged extensively with existing providers and representative bodies, including the Irish Local Development Network and trade unions. In particular, my Department has gone to great efforts to ensure that existing providers are in a position to compete for the provision of these new employment services.
This involved a two phased approach. First, running a limited competition in four geographic areas which did not already have local employment services and then, using the learnings from this process, to fine-tune the request for tenders in phase 2.
Taking these learnings on board, phase 2 included an increased number of lots, a greater emphasis on community linkages and, most importantly, a substantially increased minimum level of referrals for each lot. These increased referrals mean that the annual income under the new model should exceed the existing cost base of LES and Job Clubs operating in each Lot.
Therefore, any existing provider who has successfully bid for a service should at least match and in many cases exceed their current income. On this basis the need for redundancies in these circumstances is unclear. However, subject to meeting the requirements of the contracted service in terms of staffing commitments and ratios of case officers to customers, the final staffing of the service is a matter for the successful bidder.
The preferred bidders for the new Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Services have just been notified. The next step is the finalising of contracts and the commencement of referrals to the new service. Pending this, my Department has extended the contracts of most LES and Job Clubs until the end of August. I am advised that a small number of providers have declined the extension offer, which is at their discretion and they will have communicated their decision and rationale to their staff.
In circumstances where existing providers chose not to bid for the new services or were unsuccessful then I would expect that, as a first option, providers should look to redeploy any staff affected to other functions within their organisations. However, where this is not possible, and if these employers are unable to finance redundancy payments, then my Department's Redundancy and Insolvency service will, in accordance with relevant legislation, be able to make provision for statutory redundancy payments for any affected staff.
138. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the companies that have won new contracts for the provision of local employment services; the amount of funding involved in each case; and the duration of the contact; the current providers of Local Employment Services that have lost their contracts for public employment services a as result of his tendering out process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38524/22]
View answerThe preferred bidders for the Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Service were notified today; the procurement process reaches final completion when the contracts have been awarded.
The funding being provided in each lot depends in large part on the fees tendered by the preferred bidders. These will be incorporated into the contracts now being drafted by my officials and, on an individual basis, will be commercially sensitive. However, overall this constitutes a significant expansion of services, from just twelve to twenty-six county coverage, with a commensurate increase in resources for these new services.
These Intreo Partners LAES contracts will be for a minimum of four years, including three years of referrals and one year of "run-off" where existing clients are engaged. Contracts may be extended for up to two years.
140. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the proposals there are to improve the criteria for the free fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34870/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks - a total of €924 each year - from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs.
As part of the overall welfare budget package of €600m in increases secured for 2022, I was pleased to be able to increase the Fuel Allowance payment by €5 per week effective from Budget week. I also increased the weekly income threshold for Fuel Allowance by €20. This brought the threshold to €120 above the appropriate rate of State Pension Contributory, enabling more people to qualify for this support.
Furthermore, with effect from the start of the next fuel season, the qualifying period for Jobseeker’s and Supplementary Welfare Allowance recipients to access the Fuel Allowance payment will be reduced from 15 to 12 months.
The Government has, therefore, implemented significant expansions in relation to the Fuel Allowance through Budget 2022.
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Additional 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.
While the Department's schemes are reviewed on an ongoing basis, any further expansions to the Fuel Allowance scheme would have cost implications and could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
