Written Answers Nos. 99-114
99. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans for back to education allowance in 2014; her plans to ensure back to education allowance will cover postgraduate courses in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33244/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department carried out and published a policy review and high level issues paper of all Employment Support Schemes including the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) earlier this year. The review was focused primarily on assessing the contribution certain programmes can make to the Department's activation policy stance. Consultation with stakeholders was identified as a key aspect of the Department's review process and consequently a stakeholders' forum was convened in February 2013. The forum brought relevant experts, practitioners, policy makers and representative bodies together to consider the review and offer suggestions and input to how future policy in this area should evolve. A report of this forum is also published on the Department's website.
The Department now moves to the implementation phase. All review recommendations and feedback from the stakeholders' forum is being considered. The review does not include specific recommendations regarding postgraduate courses, including expansion of BTEA to cover additional postgraduate courses in the future. The priority for the Department is that BTEA will be focused, targeted and suitable for the needs of the unemployed and the labour market in to the future.
101. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the issue of rent allowance caps in the case of a person (details supplied) a young woman, homeless for three months who cannot find anywhere within the rent allowance caps; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33193/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned was in receipt of rent allowance from February 2012 to January 2013 and continues to receive other social welfare payments at the same address. Currently my Department is not in receipt of a claim for a rent supplement from her; however she should call to her local welfare service as soon as possible to discuss her accommodation needs. The current rent limits for her area have recently increased to €350 per month for shared accommodation and €520 per month for living alone accommodation. The Community Welfare Service is available to advise and assist by way of advocacy and rent supplementation anyone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness.
102. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason no arrangements have been made to allow the property tax to be deducted in weekly instalments for those in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. [33259/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn the context of its role in processing and making income support and related payments, the Department makes 87 million payments per annum to over 2 million recipients in any year. Payments are based on a range of entitlement conditions and are aimed at serving various social welfare policy requirements. These payments are of various types: universal payments, means assessed payments, payments based on social insurance contributory history and grants. Payments can be once-off, based on short term need or of long term duration. Because of the sheer scale, variety and nature of payments made by the Department, 'deduction at source' arrangements require substantial development of IT systems and business processes and impose a significant additional administrative burden on the Department and on the requesting agency. Short-term schemes, by their nature, would incur even more administrative overhead on all sides.
The Department has undertaken, as a service to a significant number of its clients, to invest the resources needed to provide the facility on the schemes agreed with the Revenue Commissioners. Any other arrangements required to pay the tax are a matter for the Revenue Commissioners. The Department is currently engaged in major transformation programmes to meet Government objectives, for example in relation to activation and supporting the provision of integrated income support and activation services through Intreo to clients of working age. The Department has embarked on a major programme of business and system change to support these objectives and is focussing its development efforts in this regard.
The jobseeker's allowance payment is not included in the schemes specified for deduction at source of local property tax, and there is currently no plan to extend the list of schemes from which local property tax can be paid. However, it is intended to review this position based on the experience of operating the facility over a period of time, and the situation with regard to deduction at source from jobseeker payments will be an aspect of the review.
103. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of appeals officers employed by her Department; the number of these officers who have undergone any training in disability or equality issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33254/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office is independently responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements. The role and function of the office is to provide and deliver an independent, accessible and fair appeals service in a prompt and courteous manner. Appeals Officers are statutorily appointed by the Minister for Social Protection to act as administrative tribunals and are required to exercise their functions in a quasi-judicial manner. An Appeals Officer must decide, taking account of all of the evidence presented, including medical evidence, on the impact of a person's illness/disability; on his/her capability for work; on whether a person is substantially restricted within the meaning of the Social Welfare Acts from taking up full time employment; on whether a person requires full time care and attention; or, in the case of Domiciliary Care Allowance, on whether the child being cared for requires significantly more care than other children of the same age.
Training is provided on an on-going basis to Appeals Officers on a broad range of issues of relevance to their role. In this context, case conferences are held regularly, which allow the salient features of particular cases to be presented and discussed by Appeals Officers. In addition, Appeals Officer conferences, which are convened twice yearly, provide an opportunity to consider broader issues with a view to ensuring consistency in the manner in which appeals are determined.
104. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of personnel who have retired from her Department and the number of additional staff employed; and the types of contracts they are on during each of the past two years. [33265/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn the year 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, 332 staff members in the Department retired from the Civil Service. In the year 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 a further 83 staff members retired from the Department. In the year 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, 137 staff were transferred or redeployed into the Department from other government departments and public sector organisations. In the year 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 a further 177 staff were transferred or redeployed into the Department. The contractual arrangements applying to the staff in question are the standard arrangements that apply to all other permanent civil and public servants.
The Department will continue to source staff by way of transfer and redeployment to fill critical vacancies taking account of the Employment Control Framework (ECF) target, as determined by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. As an exception to the current moratorium on recruitment, the Department has limited sanction to recruit temporary clerical officers to provide cover in respect of critical vacancies where permanent staff are on maternity leave, long term sick leave and other forms of statutory leave. Sanction was also given by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to recruit temporary clerical officers to cover for staff who avail of the Shorter Working Year Scheme and to assist with the roll-out of the Public Services Card project.
In the period from 1 July 2011 to date some 1,196 temporary clerical officers have been recruited. The temporary contracts are offered on a fixed term or fixed purpose basis and accordingly the length of the contracts vary depending on the specific case in question.
105. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of social welfare allowance applications received in 2012; the number refused by community welfare officers; and the numbers appealed and upheld on appeal. [33271/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the "safety net" within the overall welfare system. The main purpose of the scheme is to provide immediate and flexible assistance to persons in need who do not qualify for welfare payments under any other social welfare scheme. The Government has provided almost €720 million for the various schemes under SWA in 2013. There are a number of schemes under the SWA heading including basic income support and/or a supplement in respect of certain living expenses a person may not currently be able to meet. The supplements available include payments to assist with rent, mortgage interest, heating, special dietary requirements, exceptional or urgent needs, and back to school expenses.
A total of 453,833 claims for supplementary welfare allowance were registered in 2012. Statistics are not maintained where the claim was subsequently refused. During 2012, a total of 4,264 supplementary welfare allowance appeals were decided by the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO). Of these, 1,017 appeals were allowed, a further 142 were partially allowed and the remaining 3,105 appeals were disallowed in full by the SWAO. There is no right of appeal to the SWAO in respect of a decision made under the exceptional needs payment. These cases are reviewed by review officers within the community welfare service. Statistics are not maintained regarding the number of reviews undertaken or their outcome.
109. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004; if she intends to close off the sham marriage loophole in the interim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32890/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraMarriages of convenience, or "sham marriages" are defined as marriages which are entered into for the purpose of one of the parties gaining an automatic right of residency based on marriage to a person who already has a right of residency. The matter is a complex one. EU citizens and their families have the right to move and reside freely within the territories of the Member States. These rights also apply to non-EU national spouses of EU nationals following the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Metock case on 25th July 2008.
My Department has been considering this issue and has met with a number of stakeholders with a view to introducing measures to combat marriages of convenience. In this regard, I intend to introduce legislation shortly that will make such marriages far more difficult to contract in the future. The provisions will be part of legislation currently being drafted to amend the Civil Registration Act, 2004. I would hope to publish this legislation later this year. It should also be noted there are, at present, guidelines for registrars for marriage notifications containing requirements concerning notification procedures, including the verification of identity and marital status which can assist in the prevention of marriages of convenience.
111. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection if she plans to be present for more Topical Issues debates relevant to her ministerial brief in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33255/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraBecause of its size and scope, the Department of Social Protection is subject to one of the largest volumes of requests for topical issues. When topical issues tabled to my Department are selected for answer by the Ceann Comhairle, I make every effort to take these debates and will continue to do so. To date I have taken 22 such debates in the Dáil, which I understand compares favourably with other Departments. But I am not always in a position to take topical issues given the work and time pressures on my office. There is no Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection. As a result, when I am not in a position to take a topical issue in the Dáil, Ministers from other Departments do so on my behalf.
112. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will guarantee that there will be no cuts to rent supplement or increases to rental contribution required of tenants in the next budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33249/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation, whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 84,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for 2013. The Government will consider the appropriate level of expenditure on rent supplement and any changes to the scheme in the context of the Budget process.
113. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the recommendation by the National Youth Council that her Department develop a strand within the youth guarantee scheme to support young persons with limited qualifications who are long-term unemployed; and her plans to act on this recommendation. [33250/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am aware of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) report concerning the role of youth work in supporting long-term unemployed young people with limited qualifications and I am grateful to them for their input. The Youth Guarantee is a major priority of the Department. Securing EU Council agreement for an EU Recommendation on a Youth Guarantee was one of the priorities of the Irish Presidency and this was secured during my chairing of the Council of European Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO). While Member States are encouraged to implement the Recommendation as soon as possible, it is recognised that implementation will need to be more gradual in countries with higher levels of youth unemployment and particularly severe budgetary problems.
The implementation of a guarantee will, almost certainly, require an expansion in the range of opportunities currently on offer to young people in the form of further education and training, internships, subsidised private-sector recruitment, and supports for self-employment. The intention is that an implementation plan for the national rollout of the Youth Guarantee will be finalised by the end of the year, and this will set out a timescale for implementation. By this time, it is hoped that there will also be greater visibility with regard to accessing funding from the EU Youth Employment Initiative.
Among the issues that can be addressed in the review and plan will be the role of the various actors involved in delivering employment, education, training and other relevant services to young people. While there is no explicit reference to the role of youth work in the Youth Guarantee recommendation, I am aware of the need to leverage all resources available. Indeed, the proposed pilot Youth Guarantee Scheme in Ballymun will involve amongst others, the NYCI. The Ballymun Pilot, which I am pleased to say has been selected by the European Commission as one of the pilot programmes to receive EU funding, is expected to start by the year-end. A significant proportion of the target group for the pilot will be young people who have low levels of educational attainment. It is hoped that there will be early lessons from the Ballymun Project that will guide the nationwide rollout of the YGS, including the possible contribution of the youth sector in supporting long-term unemployed young people with limited qualification.
114. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will report on her Department's progress to date in the roll out of Intreo offices across Ireland, in particular across north Dublin; and if she will also report on the integration of the services of community welfare officers to date into the services of her Department. [33207/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe first 12 Intreo offices are now live and it is intended to convert a further 31 offices to full Intreo working by the end of this year and to complete the full roll-out to all 63 offices of the Department in 2014. It is to be noted that key elements of the Intreo model are being rolled-out in advance of the physical modification of offices. Personal profiling is already in place in all offices while individual progression planning and the accelerated integrated decision process will be operational in all offices by the end of this year. In Dublin North Division, all offices, with the exception of Balbriggan and Swords have established integrated decisions teams which include former community welfare staff. In addition, all community welfare services for Finglas have been re-located to the Intreo Office and community welfare services for Balbriggan, that were administered from Gardiner Street, have recently re-located to Balbriggan Local Office. Overall good progress is being made on integration of services.
