Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 22 Oct 2003

Vol. 573 No. 1

Written Answers. - Departmental Expenditure.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

101 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the areas of expenditure within her Department which have been the subject of financial restrictions in 2003; the impact this has had on recipients or potential recipients of payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24270/03]

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mary Coughlan)

The report of the Independent Estimates Review Committee to the Minister for Finance, which was published in December 2002, made a number of specific recommendations in relation to my Department's proposed 2003 Estimates, namely, a reduction in the amount sought by my Department for administrative expenses; a phasing out of the back to work allowance, BTWA, and a discontinuation of summer payments in respect of the back to education allowance, BTEA, schemes; a speeding up of the implementation of the employment action plan whereby persons on the live register are offered supports to find employment or training; changes to the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme; reduction in the financial allocations sought to fund the money advice and budgeting service, MABS, and the Family Support Agency, FSA; and greater control savings across schemes.

In the light of the recommendations by the committee on administration expenses, measures have been put in place to reduce expenditure on administration while maintaining the focus on high priority areas.

In relation to the BTWA scheme, the scheme was not phased out but refocused on those who were on the live register for five years or more and on other groups who had particular difficulty in accessing the labour market such as those on disability or invalidity payments. Approximately 3,200 new persons have joined the BTWA scheme in the period from January 2003 to the end of September compared to 9,900 in 2002 as a whole. It should be noted that persons who were in receipt of the BTWA prior to last January were not affected in any way by the introduction of the new arrangements.

In line with the committee's recommendation, summer payments under the BTEA scheme were discontinued this year in respect of BTEA recipients who had been in receipt of unemployment payments immediately prior to commencing their education courses. These recipients were eligible to claim unemployment payments during the summer period if they fulfilled the usual conditions for receipt of these payments.

The committee also identified savings arising from a speeding up of the employment action plan whereby persons on the live register are offered employment supports by my Department and FÁS. The necessary arrangements were put in place in the Dublin area last May and continue to be progressively rolled out across the rest of the country.

In relation to the SWA scheme, the committee recommended that the individual rent contribution for rent supplement should be raised to €12 per week and identified other savings arising in the context of speedier processing of asylum cases. The rent contribution was increased to the figure recommended with effect from the beginning of this year.

The committee identified savings from the amounts sought in funding for the MABS and the FSA services. While the recommendations of the committee were partly reflected in the Abridged Estimates allocation, the services in question, following additional allocations in budget 2004, have the necessary resources to function fully this year.

My Department has a comprehensive control programme which includes checks and reviews carried out on a regular and targeted basis to ensure that social welfare payments are only received by those who are entitled to them and that employers and the self-employed are fulfilling their PRSI obligations. Reorganisation of Department structures and ongoing technology developments have combined to facilitate a more co-ordinated approach to control and consequent improvement in the effectiveness of our control programmes.