Billy Kelleher
Ceist:261. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions being taken to reduce the number of jobless houses; and the latest data on same. [46375/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 8 November 2018
Ceisteanna (261)
Freagraí scríofa
The Government has set itself two headline targets for 2020: reducing the proportion of households that are jobless to 13% or less (from 18% in 2015), and reducing the share of the 18-59 population resident in such households to less than 8% (from 12% in 2015).
Although the share of the population living in Jobless Households has fallen from a high of 23% in 2012 to 11.8% in 2017, already exceeding the target set for 2020, Government remains concerned about aspects of household joblessness that go beyond the standard measures of unemployment and receipt of jobseekers' payments.
Relevant groups, not normally considered to be unemployed, include economically inactive lone parents, people with disabilities, and the adult dependants of unemployed people, all of whom might benefit from closer attachment to the labour market.
A range of policy reforms has been taken affecting these groups, and further reforms were considered in consultation with representative bodies for those involved. These policy developments are set out in the Pathways to Work Action Plan for Jobless Households which I published on 25 September 2017.
Development of the Plan fulfils a commitment in the Programme for Government and in the overall Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy. It also responds to concerns about the level of household joblessness raised in Country-Specific Recommendations to Ireland by the EU.
The Action Plan for Jobless Households is an example of one of the many measures that Government is implementing, with a view to assisting people and families to become work ready and gain sustainable employment. The Plan aims to extend activation services to people who are not working, but are not defined as unemployed by traditional measures. It focuses in particular on improving employment rates of households with children - both the traditional 'nuclear' family and the lone parent family. Specific steps have also been taken to promote engagement with the employment services for groups such as lone parents and people with disabilities. The Plan proposes a number of approaches in support of increased participation by currently inactive groups. The main points include:
- Continued implementation of reforms to lone parents' welfare payments, which introduced (partial) labour-market conditionality for those whose youngest children are aged 7 or more.
- Reforms to remove disincentives to labour market participation associated with housing supports for welfare recipients.
- Taking steps to support increased labour force participation among recipients of disability payments.
- Introducing a package of financial reforms to welfare schemes to support working families, as they make the transition to employment.
- Exploring the possibility of a family-focused approach to employment services for couples with children where neither member of the couple is working.
A number of specific measures are being taken on foot of the Plan since its publication.
- In relation to housing supports, the roll-out of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) was finalised during 2017. Almost 18,000 additional households transitioned to the new payment during 2017, bringing the total number to over 30,000.
- The earnings of people with families, when transitioning from welfare to employment, will be improved further by measures announced in the 2019 Budget. These include increases to the minimum wage, increased earnings thresholds on the Working Family Payment, increases to the income disregard for lone parents and increases to the qualified child allowance.
In relation to disability supports, the national consultation process for "early engagement" and for reconfiguration of qualifying age for Domiciliary Care Allowance and Disability Allowance payments was conducted in July and is currently being considered for decision on next steps. A number of actions in the Make Work Pay Report, specific to my Department, have already been implemented, including:
- Ensuring people with a long-term disability payment who have moved off the payment to employment, retain their Free Travel Pass for a period of five years;
- A "fast-track" reinstatement of Disability allowance, or Invalidity Pension for people where employment does not work out;
- The launch of a new, easy-to-use "benefit to work calculator", to calculate the net benefit and financial implication of work.
A preliminary approach to promoting access to the labour market for the adult dependents of jobseeker claimants focusing on jobless households is being piloted during 2018, with the project being initiated at the end of June in two pilot locations, Clondalkin and Dundalk. The Pilot focussed on trying to engage the adult dependant, educating them in relation to the supports and programmes that are available locally and free of cost to them. In addition the pilot aimed to inform the adult dependent that a dedicated case officer is available to them to assist them in availing of education supports and programmes. There will also be a continued focus on continuing to engage with the main claimant in the household through case managed activation supports. The findings of these initial pilots will inform the roll-out of additional projects in a further 8 locations across the country. These pilots are at an early stage of implementation and it is expected that pilots will be in place in all 10 divisions within the next four to six weeks.
My Department will continue to monitor performance against reform actions and milestones outlined in the Action Plan for Jobless Households. The Plan will be reviewed in 2020, in line with a planned review of the Pathways to Work strategy. Implementation of the policy measures outlined in the Action Plan for Jobless Households should see the level of joblessness fall more rapidly than is already anticipated over the next few years.