Written Answers Nos. 203 - 222
203. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when appeals in respect of supplementary allowance and disability allowance in regard to a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will be finalised; the assistance available to that person pending decisions on the appeals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12868/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeals from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to hold an oral hearing in this case on 2 April 2015. The person concerned has been notified of the arrangements for the 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.
204. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason participants in the Tús work placement initiative must have a bank account in their names when other social welfare payments can be processed through An Post or post office accounts. [12902/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraTús is a community work placement initiative, established in 2011, that provides short-term part-time working opportunities for unemployed people. The income received by participants on Tús is treated as income from employment for PRSI purposes and, in the same manner as other workers, is subject to Class A PRSI. This provides the participants on these schemes with access to the benefit of full insurability, including future entitlement to short-term benefits such as illness and jobseekers benefits and contributes towards establishing entitlement to pensions.
A central payroll service is provided for Tús participants on behalf of the Department and weekly remuneration is paid to the participant’s bank account. It is worth remembering that Tús is an employment activation opportunity aimed at those who are unemployed. The scheme supports the goals of providing and developing important skills to participants, including general work readiness. One aspect of work readiness is the operation of a personal account for lodgement of wages and to support further financial transactions. The majority of employers today will only offer the payment of wages directly into an employee's account for reasons of safety, security, economy and visible audit trails. The Department is the biggest client of the post office network, using it for both mail and cash services. The operations of all schemes funded by the Department are monitored with a view to making any necessary improvements and to ensure they operate to take account of any changes arising on other schemes or policy initiatives.
205. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will indicate eligibility for a widow's pension in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; if eligibility for a widow's pension from the United Kingdom exists in this instance also; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12905/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn order to assess their eligibility to a widow’s contributory pension, the person concerned should complete and return the application form, which was issued in early March, to the Widow’s ,Widower’s and Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory Pension Section, College Road, Sligo.
On receipt of the completed application form, the person’s entitlement to a widow’s contributory pension will be examined by a Deciding Officer who will notify the person, in writing, of their decision.
In addition, as the person concerned resides in Ireland, all of the required information will be sent by the Department, on behalf of the person concerned, directly to the Department of Work and Pensions in the UK and requesting their UK pension eligibility to be examined. The Department of Work and Pensions will make a decision on entitlement and notify the person concerned directly of the outcome.
206. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason a decision on a review of a mortgage interest supplement in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cavan has been delayed; when a decision will be reached; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12909/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Mortgage Interest Supplement payment for the person concerned is currently under review. A decision on this review will be finalised shortly and the person concerned will receive notification in due course.
207. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the delay in reinstating guardian’s allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 10 in view of the fact that it has been more than six months since the payment was wrongly suspended. [12916/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 23rd March 2015, a deciding officer decided that the person concerned is no longer entitled to guardian’s payment (contributory), with effect from 10th October 2014, because based on the evidence available, the children concerned have not been abandoned by their father and therefore do not satisfy the definition of orphans under social welfare legislation.
A letter outlining this decision was issued to the person concerned. The person has indicated her intention to appeal this decision and the Office of the Chief Appeals Officer has been notified of this intention.
208. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Kerry is eligible for a grant to obtain a hearing aid under the treatment benefit scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12921/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe customer concerned is qualified for treatment benefits and can apply for a hearing aid grant using the application form available from his chosen audiologist.
The Department will pay 50% of the cost of the hearing aid, subject to a maximum of €500 per aid.
211. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on whether it is reasonable for a citizen to be required to take a day off work to attend an appointment to obtain a new public services card; if provision will be made to have out-of-hours appointments for those who are working full-time and in receipt of certain contributory pensions; the provisions available to assist with transport costs to attend such an appointment where the Intreo office is 40 km or more away; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13012/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe purpose of the Public Services Card (PSC) is to enable individuals to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of effort, while at the same time preserving their privacy to the maximum extent possible. The PSC is designed to replace other cards within the public sector such as the free travel pass and the social services card of this Department and to make it easy for providers of public services to verify the identity of customers. The introduction of the card, in addition to providing a more efficient service for customers, is also helping to deter and prevent irregularities, including personation and identity theft.
The PSC project is earmarked as a key initiative in the Public Service Reform Plan with the aim to “expand the use of the PSC to cover a greater range of services”. Approximately 1.3 million cards have now been issued. These include some 385,000 Free Travel variants. PSC registration is currently being expanded to encompass all applicants for a Personal Public Service (PPS) Number and people applying for, or in receipt of, social protection payments or benefits, including Jobseeker payments, Free Travel entitlement, Child Benefit payments, State Pensions, and One Parent Family payments.
A PSC is currently issued following a registration process involving the capture of an individual’s photograph and signature and the verification of identity data already held by the Department. Registration is taking place countrywide in 89 offices of the Department. Registration is something that a person will need to do once, and usually takes between 15 and 25 minutes to complete.
The legislation governing entitlement to social protection payments requires a person, when requested, to authenticate his or her identity. This is, in itself, a valuable control measure. Where a person requested to attend is unable to do so at the specified date time or location, and notifies the Department of this, the appointment will be re-scheduled to a date, time or location that suits him or her better. In relation to providing appointments outside of normal working hours, this is being looked into at present. An on-line appointment system is being developed and this is expected to be in operation in the second half of 2015, which should also facilitate persons in making appointments more suitable to their own circumstances. There are no plans to introduce measures to assist persons in travelling to registration centres.
212. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 77 of 15 July 2014, since that reply issued, the number of investigations that have taken place following complaints made by interns on the JobBridge scheme; the number of these that resulted in a finding against a host organisation; the number of companies that have been banned from the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13016/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra216. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 27 of 5 March 2014, if, since that reply issued, any Department or statutory body has been banned from making use of the JobBridge Scheme. [13020/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra217. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons that have taken part in the JobBridge scheme in the Fingal, South Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, Dublin City, County Carlow and County Kilkenny local authority areas; the number that are ongoing; and the number that are completed. [13021/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra221. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 95 of 15 July 2015, the number of companies that have been banned from using the JobBridge scheme; the names of those companies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13028/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra227. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the way the top-up payment of €50 for those currently on the JobBridge scheme was determined; her views that this amount is fair; her plans to increase it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13141/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra245. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the report by the European Court of Auditors which stated three major risks to the success of the JobBridge scheme, namely, insufficient funding, jobs that do not lead to real employment and the absence of proper monitoring to ensure the schemes deliver; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13308/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 212, 216, 217, 221, 227 and 245 together.
Since 15th July, 2014, a total of 108 JobBridge complaints have been recorded on the Department’s centralized complaints facility. As a matter of course, all complaints are investigated. As at 27th March, 2015, a total of 43 host organisations had been disqualified from participation in the scheme. Since 15th July, 2014, 9 host organisations had been disqualified indefinitely from participation in the scheme and 7 others are excluded for shorter periods of time.
None of the host organisations excluded from participation in JobBridge was a Government Department or statutory body.
I am including in table 1 numbers of internships in Dublin, Carlow and Kilkenny. In total, 13,564 internships have commenced in those areas, of which 11,727 are completed and 1,837 are in progress.
The level of the weekly top-up for interns was determined in view of additional expenses that may be incurred by participants over and above the expenses of the job search they would be undertaking in any case. There are no plans to increase the level of weekly top-up.
The Department is examining the contents of Special report no 3/2015 of the European Court of Auditors on implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee in 5 Member States including Ireland. The risks referred to by the Deputy do not refer specifically to Ireland. It is worth noting that the Court found that only Ireland had made reference to the mutual obligation in activation measures of National Authorities and jobseekers and that Ireland’s implementation report “focused extensively on the Youth Guarantee” unlike other Member States.
Table 1. Internships in Dublin, Carlow and Kilkenny
|
County/District |
On Internship |
Grand Total |
|
CARLOW |
83 |
495 |
|
DUBLIN 1 |
112 |
947 |
|
DUBLIN 10 |
38 |
146 |
|
DUBLIN 11 |
60 |
341 |
|
DUBLIN 12 |
100 |
724 |
|
DUBLIN 13 |
7 |
70 |
|
DUBLIN 14 |
38 |
244 |
|
DUBLIN 15 |
120 |
769 |
|
DUBLIN 16 |
15 |
110 |
|
DUBLIN 17 |
34 |
200 |
|
DUBLIN 18 |
58 |
506 |
|
DUBLIN 2 |
293 |
2748 |
|
DUBLIN 20 |
11 |
81 |
|
DUBLIN 22 |
53 |
413 |
|
DUBLIN 24 |
82 |
637 |
|
DUBLIN 3 |
52 |
338 |
|
DUBLIN 4 |
60 |
653 |
|
DUBLIN 5 |
18 |
90 |
|
DUBLIN 6/6W |
48 |
377 |
|
DUBLIN 7 |
93 |
483 |
|
DUBLIN 8 |
113 |
753 |
|
DUBLIN 9 |
44 |
353 |
|
DUBLIN NORTH COUNTY - FINGAL |
108 |
700 |
|
DUBLIN WEST COUNTY |
28 |
125 |
|
DUN LAOGHAIRE - RATHDOWN |
82 |
696 |
|
KILKENNY |
87 |
565 |
|
Grand Total |
1837 |
13564 |
213. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 73 of 1 May 2014, since that reply issued, the number of persons who have had their jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance reduced or suspended for refusing to engage with labour activation schemes. [13017/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraLegislation provides that penalties in the form of reduced payments may be imposed by a Deciding Officer where clients fail, without good cause, to comply with activation measures.
Activation measures include the requirement to attend group or individual meetings, and/or to avail of suitable education, training or development opportunities, or specified employment programmes (e.g. Community Employment), which are considered appropriate to a person’s circumstances.
A total of 6,413 penalties were applied from 1 January 2014 to end February 2015. This figure is inclusive of the 1,113 penalty rates quoted in reply to Parliamentary Question No. 73 of 1 May 2014.
214. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 75 of 1 May 2014, since that reply issued, the number of persons who have had their jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance reduced or suspended for refusing to take part in JobBridge under the youth guarantee. [13018/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan, the Department is committed to developing an internship/work experience scheme for the most disadvantaged young people in the 18-24 age brackets who have been identified as having significant barriers to gaining employment.
Under First Steps, employers will be asked to make work experience places available for young people aged 18 to 24 with low levels of educational attainment, long periods of unemployment and other social barriers to employment.
First Steps builds on experience over the past two years of working with large employers such as Tesco and Diageo, who provided young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with work experience and training programmes in their organisations. It also takes account of the positive experience of the use of JobBridge as part of the pilot Youth Guarantee programme in Ballymun.
The aim of First Steps is to bring disadvantaged young people closer to the labour market by providing them with a work placement experience, where they gain the opportunity to learn and develop basic work and social skills in organisations in the private, public, voluntary and community sectors.
It is proposed that, at any one time, 1,500 – 2,000 people will have access to First Steps. Letters have been issued to more than 3,500 employers in the private, public, voluntary and community sectors, inviting them to participate as a sponsor in the programme and seeking expressions of interest.
Subject to responses from employers, it is expected that the first intake to the programme will be in April/May 2015. Referrals to the scheme can commence subject to the provision of places by sponsoring employers.
The participation of clients, once referred, will be non-discretionary and legislation provides that penalty rate sanctions will apply to a jobseeker who fails, without good cause, to participate.
215. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 76 of 1 May 2014, since that reply issued, the number of persons who have had their jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance reduced or suspended for refusing to take part in the gateway scheme. [13019/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraGateway is a work placement initiative for county and city councils with over 2,000 participating to date.
The latest records available indicate that a total of 302 jobseekers had their jobseekers payment suspended, 21 jobseekers were the subject of a disqualification of payment of up to 9 weeks for failure to engage with an employment activation scheme and a further 339 have had their jobseekers allowance claim closed on the grounds of non-entitlement.
218. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who have taken part in the gateway scheme in the Fingal, South Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, Dublin City, County Carlow and County Kilkenny local authority areas; the number of placements that are ongoing; and the number that have been completed. [13022/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraGateway is a work placement initiative delivered by county and city councils which aims to provide short-term work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than 24 months. Participants will benefit by being involved in work, they will improve their work readiness and will be able to apply their skills and learn new ones. The scheme was introduced in December 2013 and selected participants are required to attend for a duration of 22 months. The first entrants on the Gateway scheme will complete the initiative in October 2015.
Participants are selected by the Department on a random basis or where an application is received from a jobseeker meeting the criteria and where a work placement of this type is considered suitable.
The number participating on Gateway at 20 March 2015 was 1,950 with weekly recruitment of the order of 50 participants. A breakdown of participants on Gateway by council and city council requested by the Deputy is set out in the Table.
|
County/City Council |
Participant Numbers at 20st March 2015 |
|
Fingal |
168 |
|
South Dublin |
125 |
|
Dún Laoghaire – Rathdown |
49 |
|
Dublin City |
42 |
|
Carlow |
41 |
|
Kilkenny |
44 |
219. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the way an overpayment decision was determined, providing the details in tabular form for each year, in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo, in view of the fact that the person's spouse only had one United Kingdom works pension which was previously undeclared; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13024/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn overpayment arises where a revised decision is made by a deciding officer on a claimant’s entitlement resulting in a retrospective reduction in their entitlement.
When a revised decision is made, the claimant is notified and given the opportunity to appeal the decision. Once the right of appeal has been exercised (or not), the Department will then consider the recovery of the overpayment.
In the case mentioned by the Deputy, a revised decision was made on 4 March 2015. The claimant’s means were re-assessed as follows:
|
- |
Effective from |
Effective from |
Effective from |
Effective from |
|
Means |
12/01/1999 |
27/05/2002 |
21/10/2006 |
17/12/2008 |
|
UK Incapacity Benefit |
£ 3,113.70 |
£ 3,627.00 |
£ - |
£ - |
|
Pension from employment |
£ 2,743.41 |
£ 2,743.00 |
£ 2,674.36 |
£ 2,674.36 |
|
UK State Pension |
£ - |
£ - |
£ 4,082.00 |
£ 4,071.60 |
|
Annual Value in British Pounds |
£ 5,857.11 |
£ 6,370.00 |
£ 6,756.36 |
£ 6,745.96 |
|
Exchange Rate BP£ to Ir£ |
0.89828 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Euro Exchange Rate |
0.787564 |
1.621809 |
1.2397 |
1.26091 |
|
Annual Value in Euro |
€ 6,680.50 |
€10,330.92 |
€ 8,375.86 |
€ 8,506.05 |
|
Revised Weekly Means |
€ 128.47 |
€ 198.67 |
€ 161.07 |
€ 163.58 |
|
Applicable Weekly Means (Half) |
€ 64 |
€ 99 |
€ 81 |
€ 82 |
During the period 12 January 1999 to 19 March 2013, the claimant was paid a total amount of €108,432.54. The entitlement for this period, based on the revised means assessment, was €60,914.27. Therefore, the resultant overpayment amounts to €47,518.27.
The claimant wrote to the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 8 March 2015 requesting a review and stating that they wish to appeal the decision. A deciding officer is currently undertaking a review of the decision. The appeal will be dealt with by the Appeals Office in due course.
220. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her Department will cease contacting and encouraging social welfare recipients to utilise banks rather that post offices for direct electronic transfer of their payments, as this exercise is detrimental to the viability of the post office network and in direct conflict with the aspiration regarding post offices in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13026/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe letters recently issued by my Department to recipients of State Pension Contributory and Non Contributory were part of a very small trial to determine the best means of communicating with people about their payment options. Customers were asked to consider whether they would like to consider receiving their payment directly into an account in a bank, building society, certain credit union accounts or An Post. Customer engagement was entirely voluntary with no negative consequences for customers who chose not to respond or engage. All existing payment options remain in place as heretofore.
The Department has no plans to issue further letters at this stage. The Department will continue to offer its clients in receipt of state pension the choice of receiving their payment at the Post Office or electronically. At present 6 out of every 10 pensioners are paid directly into an account. It is not proposed to limit the freedom of these clients to amend their payment arrangements if they so wish. Existing payment options will continue to remain in place in order to reflect different client circumstances and needs.
222. Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a decision will be made on an appeal for jobseeker's allowance respect of a person (details supplied) in county Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13032/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 18 February 2015, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
