Wednesday, 29 Jul 2020

EU Summits

Ceisteanna (11)

Mattie McGrath

Ceist:

11. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Taoiseach the special measures he sought to reduce the burden on Ireland during the EU summit of leaders. [18478/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I provided a detailed report to the House last week on the special meeting of the European Council on 17 to 21 July, where we reached political agreement on a €1.8 trillion budgetary package to drive Europe’s economic recovery and the climate and digital transformations.

These were especially challenging negotiations, lasting over four days. With a significant number of other leaders, I supported an ambitious and balanced approach, capable of meeting the scale of the challenges we are facing and equipping the EU well for the future. That is what was agreed.

In my interventions, in addition to seeking to ensure an ambitious package – one that enables us to deliver our priorities as a Union – I made it clear that I would only support an outcome in which Ireland’s interests were secured, including in relation to the CAP and Brexit.

That is reflected in the outcome on both MFF and the Next Generation EU recovery fund, which are well aligned with Government priorities as set out in the Programme for Government.

Despite the significant downward pressure on the budget, and the poor starting point as set out in the Commission’s original proposal for the MFF, the outcome succeeds in protecting the CAP, including through the provision of a special allocation of €300m for Ireland to reflect the challenges facing the sector here.

In further support for peace and reconciliation, the EU will provide a special allocation of €120 million to the PEACE PLUS programme. Together with funding from the Irish and British Governments this will make a substantial fund available to support valuable projects.

The EU has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ireland during the Brexit process. The package we agreed includes a €5 billion Brexit Adjustment Reserve, which will help support those Member States and sectors most affected. The Government will now work hard to maximise the benefits available to Ireland.

In addition, funding for competitive funds, such as the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, has been substantially increased.

As I made clear in my interventions at the meeting, the EU is facing the most exceptional challenges as a result of Covid19 and its social and economic impacts. Economic recovery for one Member State, including Ireland, will not be possible, without economic recovery for all. It is therefore essential that the EU works together in solidarity towards that goal.

The outcome of the European Council, is one capable of supporting an EU-wide economic recovery and progress in the climate and digital transformations. That is of vital importance to Irish economic interests.

Questions Nos. 12 to 16, inclusive, resubmitted.

Questions Nos. 17 to 23, inclusive, answered orally.

Employment Rights

Ceisteanna (24)

Mick Barry

Ceist:

24. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on employees of a company (details supplied) seeking an enhanced redundancy package; if legislation and additional measures will be introduced giving effect to the Duffy Cahill report that will better protect the interests of workers in liquidation scenarios; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15769/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Firstly, I would like to say that my thoughts are with all Debenhams workers who are dealing with job losses at this difficult time. I want to assure everybody that my Department is assisting and will continue to assist the affected workers through its Intreo service in whatever way we can in terms of income supports and job-seeking over the coming weeks and months. Indeed over the past number of weeks officials from my Department have engaged with both officials from Mandate and with the Human Resource management team in Debenhams to ensure that all workers have received their due entitlements from my Department. Furthermore, the redundancy and insolvency section of my Department has already engaged with the liquidators appointed to Debenhams and is continuing to work with them to ensure that all claims in respect of employees are dealt with expeditiously.

While I as Minister don’t have the power to ensure that Debenhams pays an enhanced redundancy package to its employees, an employer is obliged to pay the statutory redundancy entitlement as provided for in the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 and that is all that can be legally enforced against an employer.

As the company has been declared insolvent, the Department can provide a safety net for employees and the liquidator can submit claims for statutory redundancy and other wage related entitlements for payment from the Social Insurance Fund. We will ensure that the statutory redundancy entitlement which is laid out in legislation will be paid.

The Duffy-Cahill Report, which was commissioned by the Government in the aftermath of the Clery’s closure, highlighted how the issues raised by that event and the subsequent legal cases are highly complex.

There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to review the Companies Acts with a view to addressing the practice of trading entities splitting their operations between trading and property, with the result that the trading business goes into insolvency and the assets are taken out of the original business.

Company law matters are the responsibility of the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Questions Nos. 25 to 31, inclusive, answered orally.

Community Employment Schemes

Ceisteanna (32)

Seán Sherlock

Ceist:

32. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the engagement she has had on pension rights for community employment supervisors. [18480/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

As the Deputy will be aware, Community Employment (CE) supervisors and assistant supervisors have been seeking for several years, through their union representatives, the allocation of Exchequer funding to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme.

CE sponsoring authorities are the legal employers of their CE supervisors, CE assistant supervisors and CE participants; the Department’s role has always and continues to be that of CE funder.

The issue was examined by a Community Sector High Level Forum, chaired by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform from April to December, 2017 and included representatives of various Departments with responsibility for funding the community and voluntary sector, statutory agencies and also unions representing the CE supervisors.

A detailed scoping exercise was carried out for the High Level Forum with input from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES), on the potential costs of providing Exchequer support for the establishment of such a pension scheme for employees across the Community and Voluntary sector in Ireland. This exercise estimated a potential cost to the State of between €188 million and €347 million per annum depending on the numbers involved.

Officials from my Department held a series of meetings with CE supervisor representatives to consider proposals for pension provisions, mindful of the operating environment in which any potential solution will need to exist. Discussions were also undertaken between Department officials and their counterparts in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER).

My officials will continue to work with all parties to the discussions to try to establish a viable solution to the issue.

Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 33, 62, 71, 219 and 224 together.

From the outset, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment has been made available to both employees and the self-employed.

For employees, their gross weekly earnings determine the rate of pandemic unemployment payment. The approach used is that both an employee’s average gross weekly earnings in 2019 and in January and February 2020 as received from Revenue are examined. The higher of the two amounts is then used.

For self-employed people a different approach is required, which based on their gross average weekly income for 2018. The year 2018 is used because it is the last tax year for which verifiable data on self-employed income is available.

Combining employee and self-employed income could potentially reduce average weekly earnings in the case of employee earnings, particularly where an employee has relatively small amounts of self-employment income, as the respective earnings would then be assessed over a full year. The nature of self-employment is such that it is not possible, for Revenue and PRSI purposes, to attribute self-employment income to any particular week, and earnings are assessed on a full-year basis.

Any person who feels that the assessment of their earnings, based on returns already submitted to Revenue, is inaccurate can ask for a review of their case with further details available on www.gov.ie .

The July stimulus announced last week extended the Pandemic Unemployment Payment to April 2021 on the basis of restructured payment rates. This will cost some €2.2bn, or €380m in excess of the cost of jobseeker payments.

From 17 September 2020 people who previously earned over €300 per week will receive €300 per week, people who earned €200 to €300 will receive €250 and people who earned less than €200 will receive €203. From 1 February 2021 people who earned over €300 per week will receive €250 and people who earned less than €300 per week will receive €203. From 1st April 2021 people in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment will need to apply for a jobseeker payment.

Those who are not eligible for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment may apply for Jobseeker's Benefit for the self-employed or the means-tested Jobseeker's Allowance.

I have also announced a €112 million expansion in employment services and supports under which 45,500 new places are being made available on schemes and services. This includes a number of supports for those looking to move from Pandemic Unemployment Payment to take up self-employment.

Some €12m is being made available to support self-employed sole traders and micro-enterprises with a grant of €1,000. This will help with the costs of restarting their enterprise when exiting the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

Furthermore, I am also opening up the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme and the Back to Education Allowance scheme to those exiting the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

I trust that this clarifies the matter.

Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Ceisteanna (34)

Pa Daly

Ceist:

34. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated number of workers that are ineligible for the pandemic unemployment payment and the wage subsidy payments but that have had at least 156 weeks of PRSI contributions since they first started working. [19021/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The pandemic unemployment payment was designed to support workers who lost their employment due to the COVID 19 pandemic. In order to do this, the qualifying conditions were kept as simple as possible with no requirement that applicant had to have any specific number of contributions paid. The payment was introduced on 16 March with the requirement that the applicant had been in employment or self-employment immediately prior to 13 March 2020 and have lost their employment as a result of the restrictions placed due to the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic.

In referring to the figure of 156 contributions the Deputy may be associating this payment with the conditions attaching to the jobseekers benefit schemes as they apply to self-employed contributors. However, as already stated, no such conditionality attaches to the pandemic unemployment payment.

While the pandemic unemployment payment was designed specifically to support people who lost their employment due to Covid-19 pandemic, all other supports remain available to people in need of income support. If the Deputy is aware of any customer who did not qualify for the pandemic unemployment payment, for one reason or another, and who has a requirement for income support, they should be advised to apply for one of the other income support payments (Jobseekers Allowance, Jobseekers Benefit or Supplementary Welfare Allowance). This can be done online via MyWelfare or by contacting their local Intreo Office.

I hope that this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Ceisteanna (35)

Kieran O'Donnell

Ceist:

35. Deputy Kieran O'Donnell asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if persons in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment will receive PRSI contributions in order that their future entitlements are not impacted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18797/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

The COVID 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment was introduced in March 2020 as a time-limited emergency measure to meet the surge in unemployment which resulted from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Government approval has been secured to legislate for workers in receipt of the pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, who are currently not subject to a PRSI charge, to be granted paid contributions for the duration of the emergency measures. This will be important in order to protect a person’s entitlement to future payments - both long-term payments such as pensions and shorter term payments such as Illness, Maternity and Paternity Benefits which require a contribution record up to the date at which benefit is claimed.

The Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020 provides for paid social insurance contributions in respect of people who are in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment or availing of the Temporary Wage Subsidy scheme and has completed the First Stage in Dail Éireann.

I trust this clarifies the position at this time.