Written Answers Nos. 98-105
98. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the role of her Department and associated agencies in educating and creating awareness amongst employers regarding the needs of persons with Spina Bifida and persons with Hydrocephalus [48770/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has a primary role in delivering a wide range of disability-related supports, in relation to both income-support schemes and the range of employment services - provided previously by FÁS and now delivered through my Department – to support people with disabilities to avail of employment opportunities. These services are available to all persons with any form of disability. These latter services were brought together earlier this year under a new national identity - “EmployAbility Service” - which offers a range of supports to people with disabilities and also employers. These supports include, for employers, workplace adaptation grants and wage subsidies and for employees with a disability, on-site job coaches and mentors.
This service is key in supporting people with disabilities overcome the challenges of adapting to employment and being accepted in the workplace and in creating awareness among employers of the needs of employees with a disability.
99. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the number of schools accessing support through the school meals programme. [48882/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra100. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the number of children receiving their school meals through the school meals programme. [48883/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra101. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the schools that have successfully applied for inclusion under the school meals' programme; and the number of schools that were refused inclusion in the school meals' programme. [48884/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra102. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection the annual Departmental spend on the 2011/2012 school meals programme. [48885/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 99 to 102, inclusive, together.
The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services for disadvantaged children through two schemes. The first is the statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department of Social Protection. The second is the school meals local projects schemes through which funding is provided directly to participating schools and local and voluntary community groups who run their own school meals projects. The Government has provided €35 million for the school meals programme in 2012.
As the budget allocation for the school meals programme has not increased in recent years, new applications for inclusion in the scheme are retained on file by my Department and are considered for inclusion as additional funding become available through schools opting out of the programme. Priority for funding is given to schools which are part of the Department of Education and Skill’s initiative for disadvantaged schools, ‘Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools’ (DEIS). All DEIS schools who applied to join the scheme in the previous school year have been invited to participate in the 2012-2013 school meals programme. Over 40 additional DEIS schools have joined the scheme during the past four years.
Information on the numbers of children and schools-groups accessing support through the school meals programme is set out in the following tabular statement.
School Meals Programme
|
Year 2011/12 |
Number of Schools |
Number of Children |
Expenditure 2011 |
|
Urban School Meals Scheme |
332 |
49,317 |
€0.89m |
|
School Meals Local Project Scheme |
1014 |
139,743 |
€34.08m |
|
Total |
1346 |
189,060 |
€34.97m |
103. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48765/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 15th March 2012. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on the 11th May 2012 and the case has been referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
105. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to reduce the processing times for social welfare appeals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48792/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the current average times taken to process appeals decided by summary decision is 27.5 weeks and 39.8 weeks for those requiring an oral hearing. Generally the vast majority of cases fall within these average times but extenuating factors, often outside of the control of the Social Welfare Appeals Office, will cause greater delays in some cases.
From about early 2009 the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office has increased dramatically and by 2011 had more than doubled from an average of 15,000 per year to 31,241 in 2011. A further 29,630 have been received for the period January to October this year. These increases have significantly impacted on the time taken to process appeals.
In an effort to reduce the processing times for all appeals, the Department has appointed 15 additional Appeals Officers since 2010. In addition, a further 10 Appeals Officers, formerly employed by the Community Welfare Services (CWS) of the Health Services Executive joined the Office as part of the integration of the CWS appeals services into the Social Welfare Appeals Office, bringing the total number of Appeals Officers now serving in the Office to 41. In addition to this the Office has improved its business processes and IT support.
I am assured by the Chief Appeals Officer that she is keeping the methods of operation by which the Social Welfare Appeals Office conducts its business under constant review, and that the processes are continuously being enhanced to reduce the backlogs in the Office and, overall, to reduce the processing times for dealing with appeals.
