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Wednesday, 14 May 2014

Written Answers Nos. 103-110

Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications

Ceisteanna (105)

Emmet Stagg

Ceist:

105. Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will be made on an application for domiciliary care allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [21716/14]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The person concerned was notified on 12 May 2014 that her domiciliary care allowance application was successful and that the allowance has been awarded from 1 March 2014.

Payment of the allowance, along with arrears due, will be available for collection at the nominated Post Office on 20 May 2014 and on the third Tuesday of each month thereafter.

Question No. 106 answered with Question No. 97.

Jobseeker's Allowance Payments

Ceisteanna (107)

Finian McGrath

Ceist:

107. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding jobseeker's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21725/14]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The person concerned made a claim for jobseeker’s allowance on 15 April 2014. As part of the approval process he was interviewed by a Social Welfare Inspector and was asked to submit supporting documentation in order that his means can be correctly assessed. Despite several efforts having been made by this Department to contact the person concerned to discuss his application, this information remains outstanding. No decision on his application can be made until such time as the information is received.

Youth Guarantee

Ceisteanna (108)

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

108. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures her Department is taking, or will take, to ensure voluntary youth organisations are involved in the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, noting that voluntary youth organisations are not mentioned within the Government's Youth Guarantee submission to the European Commission; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21727/14]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

In order to develop and implement a Youth Guarantee Plan, the Department of Social Protection set up an interdepartmental Youth Guarantee Implementation Group with officials and programme managers from the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The terms of reference for this group were to review the current range of youth employment services in Ireland, to assess what measures are appropriate to deliver the Youth Guarantee in Ireland and to develop the implementation plan for approval of Government and transmission to the EU.

In addition, in order to get non-governmental input into the Youth Guarantee implementation plan the Department of Social Protection held a YG stakeholders’ consultation forum in October. The DSP invited further submissions from the bodies that attended.

A number of submissions were received, including submissions from The National Youth Council of Ireland, Spunout.ie, Youthwork Ireland, Tipperary Regional Youth Service, Wexford Youth Action and the YMCA. These submissions will be taken into consideration during the rollout of the Youth Guarantee Process.

In addition the Department retained the OECD to provide input and advice on the framing of the plan (the OECD is also providing assistance to a number of other countries). As part of this process a delegation from the OECD met with stakeholders at the aforementioned forum as well as with a range of relevant public bodies. Ultimately stakeholder feedback via the forum, submissions and bilateral meetings with the OECD has fed into the design of the national YG implementation plan.

The Youth Guarantee Implementation plan specifically states that the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) along with other national partners will be invited to participate in the delivery and/or review of the Youth Guarantee.

The Ballymun Pilot Youth Guarantee scheme has strong involvement from the voluntary youth sector in its implementation. The youth sector is represented on the both the National Steering Group (National Youth Council of Ireland) and the Local Implementation Group (Ballymun Regional Youth Resource). The lessons learned from this pilot will feed into the national rollout of the Guarantee.

As the Guarantee is rolled out, the specific local arrangements for involvement of partners, including youth organisations will be a matter for divisional and regional management in the Department of Social Protection. In particular, where there are indications that any significant groups of young people will not be reached by the PES (Intreo office), alternative ways of reaching these young people through Youth Work approaches will be explored.

Question No. 109 answered with Question No. 97.

Humanitarian Assistance Scheme

Ceisteanna (110)

Ann Phelan

Ceist:

110. Deputy Ann Phelan asked the Minister for Social Protection in relation to the humanitarian aid scheme arising from flooding in January and February 2014, if she will provide a breakdown, on a county basis, of the number of families assisted from this fund; if she will provide a breakdown of the moneys allocated to each county from the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21752/14]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is the lead Department for severe weather emergencies and the Office of Public Works has responsibility for capital flood relief activities. However, the Department of Social Protection has an important role to play in assisting households in the immediate aftermath of emergency events such as the severe weather conditions experienced earlier this year.

The humanitarian assistance scheme, which is means tested, is available to assist people whose homes are damaged by flooding and who are not in a position to meet costs for essential needs, household items and in some instances structural repair. The Government has not set a limit on the amount that can be paid to an individual household under this scheme nor is the financial provision apportioned on a county basis. Levels of payment depend on the relative severity of damage experienced and the household’s ability to meet these costs ensuring that the funding is appropriately targeted. Humanitarian assistance does not cover risks that are covered by insurance policies or cover business or commercial losses.

The following tabular statement showing the number of payments and the amounts paid under the humanitarian assistance scheme on a county basis for the period 1January 2014 to 9 May 2014.

Humanitarian Aid payments 2014 (as of 9 May 2014)

County

No of Payments

Expenditure

LIMERICK

531

€417,136

WATERFORD

54

€86,263

CLARE

35

€70,067

KERRY

21

€60,140

CORK

26

€33,524

TIPPERARY

19

€28,193

GALWAY

29

€20,631

WEXFORD

10

€6,970

DUBLIN

2

€6,955

MAYO

5

€3,405

KILKENNY

10

€3,278

OFFALY

5

€2,500

ROSCOMMON

1

€2,250

LAOIS

5

€835

LOUTH

1

€720

CARLOW

1

€300

Total

755

€743,167

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