Written Answers Nos. 173-190
174. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Taoiseach if he will provide in tabular form a list of all external public relations firms hired by his Department and associated costs incurred from 2007 to 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4550/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe following table provides details of all external public relations firms hired by my Department from 2007 to 2010. Expenditure relates to the National Forum on Europe and the Taskforce on Active Citizenship, both of which were discontinued in 2009.
|
Year |
Company |
Amount |
|
2007 |
Caroline Erskine |
€ 150,524.00 |
|
2008 |
Long Grass Promotions |
€ 5,445.00 |
|
++ |
Young Social Innovators LTD |
€ 800.00 |
|
2009 |
++ |
Nil |
|
2010 |
++ |
Nil |
175. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the cost associated with allowing four weeks of paternity benefit to fathers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4328/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile male employees are not entitled under Irish law to either paid or unpaid paternity leave, they may be entitled to parental leave. Parental leave entitles parents who qualify to take a period of up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave from employment, generally in respect of children aged up to eight years. There is no provision for a social insurance based payment for periods of parental leave, but employees may be entitled to credited contributions to maintain their social insurance record for the period.
The introduction of paid parental leave or paternity leave would have significant cost implications for employers, the Exchequer and the social insurance fund. In addition, the question of introducing a paternity benefit payment would depend on establishing an underlying entitlement to statutory paternity leave in the first instance and in the case of paternity leave would require legislation on the part of the Minister for Justice and Equality.
176. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a decision has been made on an appeal of a decision on a disability allowance application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry. [4330/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision.
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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
178. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an appealed decision to refuse a disability allowance on 3 July 2014 in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4416/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused by a deciding officer (DO) on medical grounds. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 30 July 2014.
Further medical evidence was received in this case and a review was carried out by a DO. However, this review did not result in a revision of the original decision. The person concerned was notified of the outcome of the review on 16 January 2015 and of her right to lodge an appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office within 21 days.
179. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if and when all arrears in respect of a carer's allowance application will be paid in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who applied in May 2014 but whose arrears have only been backdated to September 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4432/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person in question on 10 September 2014. There is no trace of an earlier application from the person in question. The person concerned was refused CA on the grounds that the medical conditions were not satisfied. She was notified of this decision on 18 December 2014, the reasons for it and of her right of review or appeal.
The person concerned requested a review of this decision and following that review the application was awarded on January 14 2015. The claim was awarded from the date of receipt of the application. The person in question also requested that the payment be backdated to May 2014. This request for back-dating was considered by a DO and it was refused. She was notified of this decision on January 14 2015 and of her right of appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
181. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a list of education, training and activation measures that are open to persons who are unemployed but who are not in receipt of a jobseeker's allowance by virtue of the means test; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4438/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraGiven the scale of unemployment levels, the key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments. Accordingly the employment services and schemes provided by the Department are focused in the first instance on this cohort of unemployed people.
Unemployed persons not in receipt of payments may however be eligible to avail of up-skilling opportunities, for example through ETB training for unemployed people (at present there are 1,009 upcoming day courses and 552 upcoming evening courses). Although not eligible to receive a training allowance while undertaking the course, they may receive some support for expenses on travel, meals and accommodation.
An unemployed person who does not qualify for a social welfare payment due to the assessment of their means may be eligible to sign for social insurance contribution credits.
Persons who sign for credits for three months (78 days) of the last six months are eligible to participate in the JobBridge programme.
Persons signing on for credits for 12 months or longer over the previous 18 months are entitled to participate on Momentum courses through Solas, provided that they have been actively seeking work, however they will not receive any payment.
Persons signing for credits for six months or more are entitled to participate on ETB-run VTOS courses subject to availability. In the case of VTOS courses, participants do not receive a training allowance but may receive travel and lunch allowances.
Springboard and Skillnets courses for unemployed people, funded through the Department of Education and Skills, are also open to people regardless of their social welfare status.
Many other services are also available to people who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment. For example employment services, such as advice on job-search activities and the use of online job search tools, are available to people if they register with the Department’s employment services offices regardless of their social welfare status.
In short, the Government is committed to supporting as many people as possible to participate more fully in employment and to become more self-sufficient by providing supports that address barriers they may encounter in finding and sustaining employment.
182. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her Department has estimates of the number of persons who are unemployed but who are not in receipt of a jobseeker's allowance by virtue of the means test and are therefore not included in the live register; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4439/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Social Protection does not have estimates of the number of persons who are unemployed and who are not in receipt of jobseeker's allowance by virtue of the means test.
Unemployment is officially measured by the Central Statistics Office on a quarterly basis in the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) and the latest estimated number of persons unemployed as of the third quarter of 2014 was 245,500. The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) or Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA). It also includes persons who are signing for Social Insurance credit purposes and are out of work.
184. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of all library and archiving related JobBridge positions in publicly funded bodies since the establishment of the scheme, including their duration and location. [4452/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra191. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if there are circumstances in which a person can commence an internship prior to completing three months on jobseeker's allowance; her plans to change this restrictive rule in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4572/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions 184 and 191 together.
Details of library and archiving related JobBridge positions in Public Bodies are set out in Table 1.
There are no circumstances in which a jobseeker may commence a JobBridge internship prior to accumulating the 3 months (78 days) out of the previous 6 months in receipt of an eligible payment or signing for credits. However, those 3 months may be accumulated in any combination of eligible payments or credits. This enables the Department to target the JobBridge scheme at those jobseekers that are most likely to fall into longer term unemployment. There are no plans at present to change this provision.
185. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on permitting persons on disability allowance to access Gateway and Tús schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4465/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraTús and Gateway are work placement initiatives which aim to provide short-term work opportunities for those who are unemployed and on the live register for more than a year with respect to Tús and two years for Gateway. The eligibility criteria for both initiatives are in line with the Government’s policies on focusing resources on maintaining the work readiness and employability of jobseekers who suffered jobs losses in recent years. In order to maintain this focus, persons not in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment from the Department are not eligible for selection for these initiatives.
The Deputy should note, however, that persons in receipt of disability allowance (DA), and certain other payments for the Department, are eligible for a range of other activation initiatives. These include JobBridge, the rural social scheme, and community employment, back to work and back to education allowances, as well as other education and training supports. Additionally, a range of supports designed specifically to support people with disabilities and employers (to offer and maintain job opportunities for people with disabilities) are funded and delivered by the Department. These include a wage subsidy scheme and resources to offset the costs of providing reasonable accommodation for the employment of a person with disability or restricted mobility.
A person in receipt of DA is permitted and encouraged to work if their medical advisor recommends that such work is of a rehabilitative or therapeutic nature. They can earn €120 per week without it affecting their DA claim. Persons in receipt of DA also have the option of giving up their allowance in favour of jobseeker’s allowance if they wish to be considered for schemes such as Gateway and Tús, once they meet the eligibility criteria.
Advice on opportunities across a range of work placement, internships, self-employment, training and educational supports and options can be accessed via the Department’s offices and Intreo centres and further information is available on the Department’s website - www.welfare.ie.
186. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, for the years 2007 to 2010,inclusive, the total photography costs in her Department, including a list of which photographers were booked, the photographers used and a breakdown of costs associated with each occasion that a photographer was used; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4499/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra187. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, for the years 1997 to 2007, inclusive, the total photography costs in her Department, including a list of which photographers were booked, the photographers used and breakdown of costs associated with each occasion that a photographer was used; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4515/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Question Nos. 186 and 187 together.
Photography services are used, in conjunction with some press releases and conferences, to communicate the Department’s initiatives, schemes and services to customers and to the regional and national media. The total photography costs incurred by my Department for the period 1998 to 2010 are set out in the table below. No details are available for 1997.
The procurement of these photography services is carried out in accordance with national and EU procurement procedures and since March 2012, the Department has been procuring photography services under the Framework Agreement established by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in February 2012.
Full details of the Framework are available online via the National Procurement Services contract list at www.procurement.ie.
189. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, a list of all external public relations firms hired by her Department and associated costs incurred from 2007 to 2010, inclusive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4549/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Social Protection did not hire public relations firms during the years 2007 to 2010, and accordingly, no costs were incurred. The Department’s Press Office generally deals with media queries and public relations matters.
190. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if and when an oral hearing in respect of a carer's allowance application will take place in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4566/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 1 December 2014. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral appeal 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
