Vol. 1033 No. 2
6. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will detail the usage of the mobile unit to visit the homes of those who cannot attend the Intreo office, by county from 2016 to 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; the action she has taken to make persons aware of the mobile unit and home service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5945/23]
Will the Minister detail the usage of the mobile unit to visit the homes of those who cannot attend the Intreo office? I was looking for the information by county from 2016 to date. I do not necessarily need the Minister to read it out. I can get it in writing. I am more interested in the action the Minister is taking to make people aware of the mobile unit and the home visit service.
My Department has a network of more than 120 Intreo centres and social welfare branch offices throughout the country which are open to customers five days per week during business hours. My Department does not currently have a specific mobile unit available in which to meet with customers, and the requirement for such has not been currently identified.
We do, from time to time, make arrangements to visit a person who may be incapacitated at his or her place of residence, for example, to process an application for a public service card or to assist a person complete an application. Given the relatively low numbers involved, no statistics are maintained on this activity. In addition, community welfare officers, CWO, can facilitate an appointment within a short time of a person requiring such a meeting, at a mutually agreed location, including at the person's home.
Separately the development of our online service portal mywelfare.ie means a growing number of customers can access the Department's services without having to post a paper form or call into their local Intreo centre. This is the quickest and easiest way for a person to apply for most income supports and payment statements. Last year in excess of 2.7 million transactions were completed through this portal, bringing the total number of transactions to date to more than 10 million. It may interest Deputies to know that usage of the portal by people over 65 years was as high as that by people aged 18 to 24 years.
I raise this because, prior to Christmas, I was contacted by a man whose wife was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2016. She is unable to leave the house and is barely able to speak. She had her disability payment being paid directly into her Ulster Bank account, but as Ulster Bank is closing, she was transferring it to the post office so that her husband could pick it up for her. However, to do that, she needed a public services card. She was told to call in to the Intreo office but she was unable to do so. It took weeks to sort this out and to establish finally that there was a mobile unit, or at least that is how it was described when the email came back from Sligo to say there is a mobile unit assigned to each area. The personnel in Cavan did not seem to be aware of this. Someone eventually called out to her, but in the meantime they were unable to pick up three of her disability payments over the whole Christmas period. Luckily, they had put some money aside and were able to manage, but they would not have been able to manage for much longer. It just caused a lot of upset. They felt the way they were dealt with was insensitive. I know people receive disability payments for all sorts of reasons and most disabled people are more than independent and able to go into the Intreo office, but there are some who may have mobility issues and are not able to. I raise this so that even the staff would be aware of the service and be able to inform people, because they were not aware this time.
I asked my officials who told me that, if someone needs a public services card, PSC, staff from the Department of Social Protection will go out. They have a camera so that they can take the photographs. That can be arranged. I am sorry the lady was disturbed over Christmas. I am happy to check out that particular case for the Deputy. I can only say that it is not nice if you do not have money over Christmas. As I understand, the Department can facilitate an in-person appointment within a short time for a person requiring such a meeting. We know the community welfare offices in our own areas. They are exceptionally good and exceptionally caring in the work they do. I know they go beyond the call of duty on many occasions. In the case mentioned by the Deputy, I cannot say why she did not get the PSC as soon as she could but we will check it out. However, on the broader point, there are many ways by which people can make their applications.
Most people do not need the home service. Maybe if it was made available, too many people would access it. Is it possible to get a PSC through the portal or does a person have to present to the Intreo office or somebody call to his or her home?
The office in Sligo said that it did not need the public services card but the post office said it did and would not give the payment to the woman's husband without her having a PSC. The Intreo office did give him a temporary card and, eventually, when he was able to get access to staff, someone visited her home afterwards, but it caused a lot of trouble. She also got a letter to say she was allocated a free travel pass and needed to present at the Intreo office to access that. Everyone's disability is different. In this case the people just felt it was a little insensitive.
I will get the specific details. I will get someone from my office to contact the Deputy to trawl through that so that it does not happen again. It is not our intention. It is possible to ring up and get an appointment with a community welfare officer who will visit the house if a person is incapacitated and cannot travel. I can give that commitment because it does happen.
On the broader issue, there are many ways by which people can make their applications. They can call into the social welfare or Intreo office, they can pick up the phone and ring us, they can apply online or, where they need it, they can even arrange for a member of staff to meet them in their own home. That, for some reason, did not happen. I will check it out because it is our intention that if a PSC is needed and a person cannot go into the office to have the photograph and everything taken, we will arrange for someone to go out with a camera to take the photographs and to help him or her fill up the form.
7. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of the length of time it is taking in different areas to process additional needs payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6087/23]
I will continue where I left off because the question is on the same topic. I will further elaborate the problem. The Minister is saying that community welfare officers, CWOs, are there and people can get appointments. I am telling her that is not the experience that is being relayed to us. That is not happening. In the old days, people could go down to the CWO without any prior notice and queue up to see them. They cannot do that now. We need to go back to face to face.
The community welfare service, CWS, is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring applications are processed and decisions on entitlement are made quickly. There are no backlogs at present and work on hand is within the scheme's normal processing levels. Complete applications are finalised within two weeks and there is less than two weeks' work in process.
Exceptional needs payment applications are varied and often complex, reflecting individual circumstances. It is important to note that, where it is clear a person has an urgent or immediate need, every effort is made to ensure the claim is processed on the same day. CWOs are very experienced and can generally assess when a case is so urgent that it requires an immediate response. Approximately 10% of CWS payments to customers are made on this basis, which shows how responsive the service is to urgent customer need.
I will elaborate on a further example. I mentioned the man with early-onset Alzheimer's, who is also in a housing assistance payment, HAP, arrangement where he had to pay a top-up. Before getting Alzheimer's, he was working and could make the top-up. Since he got Alzheimer's, he cannot work or make the top-up and is falling into arrears. No appointment was possible.
With our assistance, eventually an application with all the bits and bobs goes in and a cheque arrives for €600, but the arrears, which are not the fault of the people but of their complex circumstances, are €1,000. Their problem is not solved. They needed to talk to an individual to explain their circumstances. I do not blame the CWOs because clearly they are overrun. We need staffing levels in the service that allow people to go to the CWO and explain complicated circumstances and get responses which acknowledge the complexity, difficulty and, often, desperation of the situation they are in.
The CWOs, as we all know, deal with people in a humane and responsive way. There are a number of ways in which people can make applications. They can call into any social welfare or Intreo office. They can pick up the phone and ring us. They can apply online or, where they need it, they can even arrange for a member of staff to meet them in their home. There are many options available to people.
The case the Deputy referred to is complex, but if a person rings up and asks for an appointment to see a community welfare officer, the officer will go to that person’s house. That is the arrangement. I am happy to take the details and look into the case to find all of the information. I will come back to the Deputy as to why the arrears of €1,000 were not given. I cannot say why they did not get it but am happy to look it up and find out exactly what happened.
I will certainly do that. The other case I mentioned is also complex. I will not go over the details again but, just to be clear, it concerns a woman with cancer whose husband cannot turn down the heat and so has big bills. Because she is on illness benefit, she is not entitled to fuel allowance and, therefore, got none of the extra payments for that allowance. This is terrible stuff.
The husband of that woman has been in my office about six or seven times saying he cannot get a face-to-face meeting with the CWO. I am not criticising the CWO because I am sure that CWO is overrun. The Minister is right they are humane people but the problem is, once upon a time it was possible to meet the humane person. Now there are loads of barriers to getting meetings. What the Minister describes is not what it used to be. It has changed and it is not a good change. When it was possible to queue up and see the CWO on the day, it was better than what we have now.
We have increased staff numbers. There are 74 additional staff to be assigned to the community welfare service. In the interim, we assigned 30 social welfare inspectors to the service to make sure claims were dealt with speedily. There is no backlog and we are down to two weeks. That is fair.
Though online applications do not apply to the case the Deputy spoke about, I was pleased to see when my officials went through the statistics that there were as many people over 65 years old using the online service as there were 18- to 24-year-olds. It goes to show more and more senior citizens are going digital like the rest of us. There are options: go online, pick up the phone, call into the social welfare office, or, if needed, a member of staff will go out to the applicant.
8. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports she has put in place to deal with the consistent delays in processing applications for additional needs payments; the actions she has taken to ensure persons who require the payment to pay for a deposit or first month’s rent are not missing out on possible house rentals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5944/23]
What supports has the Minister for Social Protection put in place to deal with the consistent delays in processing applications for additional needs payments and what actions has she taken to ensure persons who require the payment to pay for a deposit or first month's rent are not missing out on possible house rentals?
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The CWS is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring applications are processed and decisions on entitlement are made quickly. There are no backlogs at present and work on hand is within the scheme's normal processing levels. Complete applications are mostly finalised within two weeks and there is less than two weeks' work in process currently.
It is important to note that, where it is clear a person has an urgent or immediate need, every effort is made to ensure the claim is processed on the same day. CWOs are very experienced and can generally assess when a case is so urgent that it requires an immediate response. Approximately 10% of CWS payments to customers are made on this basis, which shows how responsive the service is to urgent customer need.
Where an application cannot be finalised promptly, the delay is normally due to additional information or documentation being requested from the person to support his or her application and the length of time it takes for the information to be provided. This can result in longer processing times for these applications as greater flexibility is given to clients, with extended time to respond. Upon receipt of this information, the application is processed quickly.
I would appreciate if the Deputy would let me know of any persons who are having difficulty in accessing support for a deposit or first month's rent. Much effort and resources have been applied to the CWS over recent months to ensure it is a responsive and available service for people. I trust this clarifies the matter.
Additional needs payment applications for assistance with deposits and rents are now being dealt with in the centralised office in Dublin. I am hearing the applications are taking weeks, if not months, to be processed. I have been contacted by a tenancy sustainment and support officer who works with people who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. They are referred by the local authority to this person, who helps them get viewings of properties. Most are on social welfare and do not have the means to save for the deposit and first month’s rent. Cavan County Council does not operate a homeless HAP system so they have no option but to apply for the additional needs payment to cover these costs.
It results in a catch-22 situation because if they get a viewing at the property, which is very difficult in the current climate, they cannot afford the deposit and first month's rent. There is no assistance available, they apply for the additional needs payment, it is taking too long, the landlord gives the property to somebody with money readily available and they miss out. This is happening constantly. Something needs to be done to address it. We have a homeless crisis and it will get worse. I am talking about a city or large urban centre in Cavan.
If an application is made and all the information is provided, the answer is provided within two weeks. There will sometimes be cases where all the information is not provided and it takes longer.
If the Deputy gives me the specific case, I am happy to have it looked into. Specific cases are what I need. Sometimes when all the information comes to hand, it might not be what it originally seemed to be. I am not saying that is true of the Deputy’s case in Cavan.
We have put more staff into this section and there are a number of ways people can contact the service. They can go into the Intreo office in Cavan, which is open five days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They can see a community welfare officer in there and explain their situation.
Some of the work is being done at a central office, which has helped to eradicate the backlog. There is no backlog now. We have been working extremely hard in trying to get these numbers down because we want to help people. That is what we are here for.
The fact is that two weeks is too long. Two weeks for some payments might be sufficient but for this case, where it is for a deposit or rent, an immediate payment is needed. Otherwise, the tenancy will be gone because there is such a demand. I do not know why the system was changed because there is an old saying that goes, if it is not broken, do not fix it.
Before this, somebody in the local authority who knew the person locally would have worked in the community welfare office and a good relationship would have been built up. That person could contact the office and say we have an urgent case of somebody fleeing a domestic violence situation or who is homeless and needs a payment, and the payment was processed within a day or two and resolved. That is not happening now, however.
Like Deputy Boyd Barrett said earlier, I am hearing that community welfare officers are not available either. There was a time when they used to have scheduled clinics at different times throughout the county and people could just drop in. That is not happening now from what I am hearing the ground. That was a great system where people just went to them and there was a personal touch and, as the Minister said, a humane attitude. Returning to that system could help resolve many issues on the ground.
There are a number of ways this can be done, which I explained previously. People can call into the social welfare Intreo office, pick up the telephone and ring us or apply online. If someone needs a member of staff, we will go out to his or her house. Those are all options. As I said, it is working because the number of claims waiting to be processed is down. There are two weeks in hand and there is a two-week turnaround time. If it is urgent, however, it is genuinely dealt with on the same day.
In terms of domestic violence, I changed that process. We can provide a rent supplement to people who are victims of domestic violence by way of a referral from Tusla and other designated organisations. This referral, along with the completed grant supplement application form, will allow victims of domestic violence a fast-track approval and screening process with a simplified means test to access a rent supplement for an initial three-month period. They can get that straight away for three months. That was something I was pleased we were able to introduce because that is a very difficult place for people to find themselves. An exceptional needs payment to cover a deposit and the first month's rent can also be provided promptly to a person in this situation. If the Deputy wants to give me the specific details, I will follow up on why it was not received immediately by that individual.
9. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on a State pension solution for long-term family carers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6036/23]
Will the Minister please provide an update regarding accessing a State pension for family carers and long-term family carers, as she committed to?
The Government acknowledges the important contribution carers provide and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, the current State pension system gives significant recognition to those whose work history includes an extended period of time outside the paid workplace, often to raise families or provide another full-time caring role. PRSI credits, homemaking disregards and home caring periods recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid employment in the calculation of a payment rate.
Despite these measures, some long-term carers of incapacitated dependants may still face barriers in accessing the State pension. They may, for example, have difficulty establishing the minimum number of ten years' paid contributions.
I announced a series of landmark reforms to the State pension system in September. The measures are in response to the recommendations of the Commission on Pensions and represent the biggest ever structural reform of the Irish State pension system. One of the most important reforms agreed by Government is enhanced State pension provision for people who have been caring for incapacitated dependants for more than 20 years. It will do this by attributing the equivalent of paid contributions to long-term carers to cover gaps in their contribution record and by establishing a register of family carers for this purpose. Department officials are currently working to implement the reforms, including the drafting of legislation and development of administrative and IT systems, as necessary.
I thank the Minister for that update. When this was announced initially and the Minister spoke about it in September, she said she expected the pension for family carers to be in place from January 2024. I appreciate that much work has to go into this. However, could the Minister let us know whether she still intends for that to be the timeline and that she foresees this being in place and ready for next January? The register is a positive move. Even aside from the State pension for family carers, it will be good to have a register. I understand the Minister will work with Family Carers Ireland in that regard, which is welcome.
I have come across a number of cases where that rule of needing to have 520 contributions in the ten years before a person can access the credit has been a difficulty for some carers. As part of the ongoing work the Minister's Department is doing on checking people who are caring for the purposes of the register, can this be looked at in terms of the total contributions approach where evidence had to be provided for people to access credits? Some of that work might be already done.
As part of the State pension reforms, I am committed to providing the pension for long-term carers and hope to have it in place by 2024. As the Deputy knows, we are doing much work to support carers, which is absolutely correct because they really do great work. There is no doubt about that.
My officials are looking at the legislation we need to change. That is being written as we speak. The Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, of which Deputy Kerrane is a member, is also looking at this issue along with auto-enrolment and will be bringing a report to me, which I look forward to reading when it comes to hand.
We have a list of those who received the carer's support grant and a list of those on carer's allowance. However, we need to find the cohort who are receiving neither of those supports. We will work with stakeholders and representative groups to see how we can come up with a register. That is part of the work and it will take a bit of time.
I presume it is the case that even though there is much work to do, which I appreciate, it is envisaged that the January 2024 timeline is still on track. That is really important because for a long time now, family carers who have ceased their caring role and sought their State pension have not been able to access a full State pension. In fairness, they were more than entitled to it after the years of care they provided. This has put family carers in really difficult situations. This is, therefore, a really welcome move. I hope that it will be brought about as quickly as possible.
In terms of total contributions approach, the Department had to look into each case where someone was looking for credits. People had to prove they had children. It was said at the time that the Department would be looking at child benefit and if people were receiving carer's allowance, that would help as well. I presume a similar system will be put in place to show carers who are caring when it comes to them accessing that pension when it is rolled out. Some of that work may be done already and could be expanded into that area.
Deputy Sherlock has indicated.
I thank An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for letting me in. I have two simple questions. Could that potentially apply to somebody who was caring for somebody for a period and was eligible for carer's allowance, for example, where a person had an intellectual disability in the first instance and second, where a domiciliary care allowance might have applied in the lifetime of a carer?
We will use any of the information we have in the Department on domiciliary care allowance, carer’s support grant or carer's allowance. We are trying to make sure people who have genuinely been caring for more than 20 years get the benefit of this. It is important that they get this pension. They have cared all their lives and find that when they come to pension age, because of their partner's income, they cannot get anything because it is means-tested. We are trying to deal with this. We expect to have the legislation in the second half of this year.
Deputy Sherlock can appreciate that there is a bit of work to be done in trying to make sure we get it right. That is the most important thing. We are working on it as we speak. As I said, I am looking forward to getting those reports from the joint Oireachtas committee. We want to move this on and these are two big changes. State pension reform and auto-enrolment are fundamental changes we are making to the system and a good deal of work is involved. I have many people working on it who have spent much time on it already.
11. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications received in 2022 for disability allowance, domiciliary care allowance and carer’s allowance; the number that were awarded; and the number of applications under appeal, in tabular form. [5997/23]
Will the Minister outline in tabular form the number of applications received in 2022 for disability allowance, domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance, the number that were awarded, and the number of applications under appeal? I will not have sight of those as we are here, but I will have sight of those in the reply later on.
In 2022, 26,021 disability allowance claims were registered with my Department, with 13,817 claims awarded and a total of 5,637 appeals. Domiciliary care allowance claims registered stood at 10,524, with 7,872 claims awarded and 2,084 appeals. There were 22,841 claims registered for carer's allowance, with 14,921 claims awarded and 3,521 appeals.
During 2022, the Department continued to receive an increased number of claims across all of these schemes. Claim volumes for disability allowance increased by more than 26% year on year and more than 8% on its pre-pandemic level in 2019. Claims volumes for domiciliary care allowance and for carer's allowance increased by more than 15% and 16% respectively compared with 2021, and between 18% and 21% on their pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Notwithstanding these increases in workloads, improvements in processing times made in recent years were maintained, with claim decisions being made in an average of six weeks compared with 12 to 19 weeks in 2017, and ten to 14 weeks in 2019.
It should be noted that the number of claims awarded include cases that were previously disallowed or refused and subsequently found eligible on review or appeal. In addition, the total number of claims received in a calendar year will not equal the number of claims awarded or disallowed in the same year. Claims awarded, disallowed or appealed may relate to claims received in previous calendar years.
I welcome the comprehensive set of figures there, but it is glaring that across disability allowance, domiciliary care allowance, and carer's allowance applications, there are approximately 5,000 appeals for disability allowance, 2,000 appeals for domiciliary care allowance, and 3,500 for carer's allowance. I have posed the question because if there is a way of further streamlining the process, particularly for parents where applications are made for domiciliary care allowance, this would be very helpful. This is on the basis that the weight of medical evidence that must be supplied is burdensome. People understand they have to do it, and obviously we must have checks and balances to ensure the scheme delivers what it is supposed to deliver. Nobody argues against that. However, when a decision is made by a Department's deciding medical officer, very often it poses questions as to the legitimacy of that decision. Given the weight of the medical evidence that has been submitted, people feel understandably annoyed where their initial applications are turned down and, in many cases, the decisions are overturned on appeal. There are still quite a number that do not reach oral hearing level. With the domiciliary care allowance in particular, the fact that 2,000 applications have gone to appeal has to tell us something about the system and whether it is working.
Each scheme has multiple conditionality such as medical, caring, means and residency. A key criteria is that the applicant satisfies the medical-related conditionality. To assess this, the Department employs its own team of more than 30 doctors who have a mix of skills and specialties and who are specially trained to assess the impact of a medical condition on a person's capacity to work or on his or her care needs. The focus is not to disallow a claim but to try to understand the impact of the underlying condition on the claimant or the person in their care.
Often when a claim is appealed, we find that applicants provide additional information to that provided with the initial claim. This is the main reason appeals succeed. There are a number of reasons applicants do not submit this information with the initial claim, partly because they may not have had reports from specialists or consultants available to them when they made the claim but they wished to establish a claim date as early as possible. That is understandable. People sometimes say to them to get their claim in, they put the claim in, and then follow up with the additional information, because when the claim is granted it is backdated.
What we have is a situation where one consultant or medical professional is overturning the decision of another. This, effectively, is what is happening when the medical examiner looks at the case. For example, I go to my consultant who knows me, has a relationship with me and completely understands the nature of my complaint. That could then be overturned by somebody who never meets the applicant, who never interacts with the applicant and who is making a decision against the applicant. It has always been thus, and maybe it is time for us, given that the Minister is reforming in nature, perhaps to look at this again. There are three very particular schemes for which thousands of people make applications where decisions are made on medical grounds on the basis of what is arguably a desktop exercise. If the Minister saw fit to look at that again and perhaps review it, that would be very helpful.
On the same question I invite Deputies Murnane O' Connor and Durkan.
I am of the same opinion that it needs to be looked at. There are so many schemes, including the carer's allowance. I know of so many people going into appeals where the Department wants further information. There is a far higher refusal rate than I have ever seen before. I would question this.
When we look at it, people who are caring are looking after people instead of them being in hospitals or in homes, and yet every time a decision is appealed the Department wants further information. It is also being means tested, which is a huge issue. It is of course the same for the domiciliary allowance or any of the schemes.
I am dealing with a lovely lady at the moment who has a child with a disability. Although the child is actually in school for a few hours, this lady had to give up work to be the carer. This lady qualifies for nothing because her husband earns barely over the limit.
As others have said, we need to look at certain schemes to see what we can do to help those who are vulnerable and doing their best to help the system. The system is letting them down.
I agree with the concerns expressed by the others. There needs to be a review by the Minister of the regulations, the way they are applied and the outcomes. Having attended at appeal hearings over many years, I have seen the basis on which decisions are made. On one occasion not so long ago I attended a hearing where the person won the appeal only for it to be overturned by an executive officer who, to my mind, had no authority to do so other than a conflict whereby the same officer was adjudicating on their own decision, as it were.
Will the Minister, if she gets a chance, look at that area where there could be a difficulty created for people who have a life-long commitment to caring for relatives?
I thank the Deputies. I hear the concerns they raise. I had one case in my constituency office of a child who had been diagnosed from birth with a particular disorder but the medical evidence did not stack up and they did not get the disability allowance. They were moving from domiciliary care to disability care but they did not get it. They did not provide the information. I told them they would have to go back to their specialist and get a letter. They said they would not go back. They said that what they had supplied should have been sufficient. Unfortunately, as we all know, doctors differ. I will certainly take on board what the Deputies have and I am happy to take a look at it.
Applicants should not withhold information in order to have additional information to submit if they need to appeal. They must not do that. Submit all of the information in the first instance. Sometimes the medical information is not sufficient and they must go back to get more information. A lot of the cases are actually granted on appeal. I would say to all applicants to submit as much information as possible with the initial claim and I ask all public representatives to do the same. The Department is also working closely with the advocacy groups, including the DCA Warriors and Carers Ireland to review and change its application forms. If the Deputies have any ideas they would like to give to me, I will be happy to take them.
12. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on engagement from her Department with community employment supervisors regarding their employment-related concerns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6038/23]
Can the Minister of State give me an update on the engagement where I know that the Department has entered talks in the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, in respect of pay, and terms and conditions, in particular, for community employment supervisors? The Minister had confirmed in the past week at the committee the hope that all supervisors would be looked at once and for all in respect of the ongoing talks, which is very welcome. Can I ask for an update on the engagement to date, please?
I thank the Deputy for the question. The 1,640 supervisors and assistant supervisors provide a very important role running over 840 community employment, CE, and other schemes countrywide. As the Deputy knows, these schemes deliver important locally-based community services, while providing a valuable training and development opportunity to the long-term unemployed and to those furthest removed from the labour market. CE supervisors and assistant supervisors are employees of the individual CE schemes, which are funded by the Department. Neither the Department nor the State are the employer of this group of workers. As the funder of CE schemes, the Department of Social Protection is in ongoing contact with CE supervisors' representatives, including union representatives, on employment-related matters.
On the specific issue on pay, in the past year, the Department received correspondence from Fórsa and SIPTU seeking a pay increase for CE supervisors and assistant supervisors. Fórsa and SIPTU, along with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, subsequently referred this pay claim to the conciliation service of the Workplace Relations Commission. The WRC issued an invitation to the Department to take part in a conciliation process. Following Government approval, the Department responded to the WRC indicating that it will engage with a WRC conciliation process, in its role as funder of these schemes. This conciliation process is now under way, with the first meeting in the WRC held in the past week on Thursday, 2 February. Departmental officials attended and engaged with ICTU, Fórsa and SIPTU representatives to progress the this issue.
As the Deputy will appreciate, while this process is under way I am not in a position to comment further other than to say I am hopeful that an agreed and fair resolution can be reached through this conciliation process.
It should be noted that any increase in CE supervisor pay rates that would increase the overall cost to the State of funding employment schemes must take into consideration the potential cost to the Exchequer, and ultimately the taxpayer. Therefore, the Department will also continue to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform during the WRC process. If there are budgetary implications arising from the WRC process, these will need Government approval.
The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I are fully committed to the CE schemes and recognise the valuable contribution being made to local communities through the provision of services and in helping long-term unemployed participants back to work.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply and I do not believe anyone in this House would disagree with the fact that community employment provides essential and key services and supports right across the State. They provide services that in many cases would otherwise simply not exist. The supervisors and the assistant supervisors, in particular, have a significant responsibility when it comes to the running of these schemes, particularly because of the people and the communities they serve and their importance.
I wish to clarify one issue. The WRC talks and initial engagement came on the back of the pay claim that was submitted for community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors. In respect of supervisors within Tús and the rural social scheme, RSS, is that being looked at either separately to the pay claim or as part of it, because that was mentioned in the committee last week? I thank the Minister of State.
Yes, is the short answer. We were eager, when we were going through a process like this and when there are schemes with quite strong similarities that are all couched under the employment support schemes I oversee, that they would be looked at in the whole and that would be important. We are eager to look at CE, Tús, RSS and the job initiative, JI, supervisors in this process.
I thank the Minister of State and I appreciate that he cannot speak to the ongoing deliberations within the WRC but this is a welcome move. The supervisors, be it in Tús, RSS or in community employment, have not seen a pay rise since 2008, which is a long time. During that period, they have had additional workload and responsibilities because of the demand within the communities for the support of those schemes. In many cases, there has been a great deal more demand from the public and people in communities for assistance for various clubs and organisations that require and seek the support of all of these very important schemes on the ground. This is welcome and I hope that progress will be made without delay through the WRC.
There obviously will be a major role for the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in all of this. It needs to be to the fore to ensure that whenever a deal is made that it is progressed as quickly as possible.
We all know the very good work which CE supervisors and their assistants do and of the commitment which the Government is giving to these workers. I am aware that the talks have been going on since April, with a 2% increase in November and a further 1% increase thereafter. This is unacceptable. A great deal more talking needs to happen.
The CE supervisors have not had an increase since 2008, which is 15 years ago. I met a group of CE supervisors recently who told me there are some people on the CE scheme who, because of the welcome increases provided by the Minister, are earning more money than the CE supervisors themselves. I am delighted that the Minister of State is talking but I ask him to ensure that he gives the proper increase to our CE supervisors and to their assistants. The work they do in our communities is very valuable. I know that both Ministers are committed to this. I thank them for that and I know that that they are aware of the importance of a proper increase in their pay.
I thank both Deputies and agree with their sentiments on the valuable nature of all the supervisors across all of the schemes and the work they do. I am hopeful that an agreed and fair resolution can be reached through the conciliation process. The unions have requested an adjournment. We have agreed to that but there is an agreement to meet again next month. I will leave it at that for now.
13. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of the total allocation of extra funding to community welfare officers to deal with applicants for additional needs' payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6073/23]
I ask the Minister to provide details of the total allocation of extra funding to community welfare offices to deal with applications for additional needs payments and to make a statement on the matter.
I thank the Deputy for this question. The purpose of an additional needs payment is to assist with essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.
In 2022, over 97,000 additional needs payments were issued at a total value of over €58 million. More than €66 million has been provided for additional needs payments in 2023. However, the budget for this scheme is demand-led and is not subject to an overall cap. There are 412 staff across all grades in the community welfare service, including 323 community welfare officers based locally throughout the country.
In light of the increased level of applications, agreement had been reached for approximately 74 additional staff to be assigned to the community welfare service. Recruitment has commenced for these additional staff through a combination of appointments from Public Appointments Service panels, internal promotions and expressions of interest from existing staff within the Department.
We are on track to have these additional staff in place by the end of the first quarter of this year. In the interim, 30 social welfare inspectors were temporarily reassigned to assist with claims processing. This and other measures undertaken during the past year mean there are no backlogs at present and work on hand is within the schemes normal processing levels.
Completed applications are finalised within two weeks and there is less than two weeks' work on hand currently.
Where it is clear that a person has an urgent or immediate need, every effort is made to ensure that the claim is processed on the same day. Community welfare officers are very experienced and can generally assess when a case is so urgent that it requires an immediate response. Approximately 10% of payments to customers across the country are made on this basis, which shows just how responsive the service is to an urgent customer need.
We are going to run out of time but the Deputy will be able to make this response.
I believe we will be able to say with confidence that it is unlikely that the increase the Minister has allocated for exceptional needs payments is going to cover the demand.
We are increasingly seeing, as the Barnardos report showed yesterday, that people who are earning substantially more - I know the CWOs have discretion - are also running into real difficulty with the energy crisis in particular and mortgage increases.
I will draw attention to one particular cohort, namely, people living with district heating systems. Many of them who have been in touch with me are facing utterly unsustainable bills. There are high energy costs in these systems that are not controlled by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. People using such systems do not have the option to move companies the way the rest of us do. I have questioned CRU about this at the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action and the lack of protection and options or choices to move mean they face uncontrollable heating bills. Many of them have been turned down by CWOs. I ask the Minister to give these people a favourable view, and instruct the CWOs to cut them a little slack, because of the crises they face and the lack of protections the State offers them.
This is a demand-led scheme, as the Deputy knows. We spent €58 million on it last year. There is a budget for this year and if the scheme requires more money, that is not a problem. We will provide it. The additional needs payment, through the community welfare service, is the State's safety net for people who get into difficulty. I have been in politics for 20 years and have always dealt with the local CWOs. They have always done their best to help people, as has the Deputy. I value the CWOs.
The delivery of this service is a priority for me and my Department. Where people are in need, I want to make sure they get support. That is why we had a major communications campaign to raise awareness of the additional needs payment. In 2022, 97,000 applications were processed. That is up significantly since 2021. The additional needs payment is available to those in financial hardship. People are finding that their ESB bills are increasing. There is another €200 credit. We have already paid out €400 in credit.
Deputy Smith can come back in because nobody is here for the next round. She can take her minute if she wants.
I had a lot more to say but I am under time pressure. I will revisit the question of those living with district heating systems. Many of them are approaching a lot of Deputies. These systems are not regulated by the CRU so they do not fall under any regulation. The utilities can charge what they like. They charge much more than what the Minister and I pay for gas coming into our homes. On top of that, the people affected live mainly in apartment complexes. Many of them are good earners but they are paying bills that are at an incredible rate, with no regulations and no control over the prices. In addition, they do not have the option to shop around. We are constantly being told to shop around and change providers but they do not have that option.
There has to be a set of guidelines for CWOs. I ask that within those guidelines this matter is drawn to their attention and they give it specific attention.
I thank the Deputy. I ask her to give me the details. I am not familiar with district heating systems, to be honest. If she gives me the information, I am happy to have a look at it. I do not know the details. If she gives me-----
I will write to the Minister.
If the Deputy writes to me on that specific issue, I will be happy to follow it up.
