Written Answers Nos. 306-317
306. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration has been given to increasing qualified adult rates alongside increases to core social welfare rates; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8027/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraRecipients of certain social welfare payments can claim an increase in their payment in respect of a Qualified Adult, subject to a means assessment. A Qualified Adult is the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the recipient who is being wholly or mainly maintained by that claimant.
As part of the Budget 2023 package, I increased personal weekly payment rates by €12 across the board, and those with a Qualified Adult saw an additional proportionate increase.
For working-age payments where the maximum personal rate is €220 per week, such as Disability Allowance and jobseeker payments, the Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA) is now €146 per week – an increase of €8.
For those on the maximum personal rate of the State Pension (Contributory) of €265.30, with a Qualified Adult aged over 66, the IQA rate is now €237.80 - an increase of €10.80.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
307. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection the total number of persons supported by the pandemic unemployment payment, by county, in tabular form. [8029/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) was a social welfare payment for employees and self-employed people who lost their job due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
In total, 879,772 people received at least one PUP payment. The breakdown by county of these individuals is provided in Table 1 below.
Table 1: PUP recipients, by county
|
County |
Recipients |
|
Carlow |
10,311 |
|
Cavan |
14,366 |
|
Clare |
21,481 |
|
Cork |
90,949 |
|
Donegal |
30,294 |
|
Dublin |
258,967 |
|
Galway |
47,343 |
|
Kerry |
31,090 |
|
Kildare |
40,123 |
|
Kilkenny |
16,794 |
|
Laois |
14,383 |
|
Leitrim |
5,519 |
|
Limerick |
32,475 |
|
Longford |
6,645 |
|
Louth |
25,025 |
|
Mayo |
23,338 |
|
Meath |
38,522 |
|
Monaghan |
13,088 |
|
Offaly |
13,694 |
|
Roscommon |
10,794 |
|
Sligo |
10,950 |
|
Tipperary |
26,163 |
|
Waterford |
19,996 |
|
Westmeath |
16,476 |
|
Wexford |
29,730 |
|
Wicklow |
25,806 |
|
Other or county unknown |
5,450 |
|
Total |
879,772 |
308. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form, on a county basis, the total number of persons who were in receipt of the Covid-19 enhanced illness benefit payment. [8030/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnhanced Illness Benefit (EIB) was a form of Illness Benefit that was payable to self-employed persons or an employee who was required to self-isolate or had been diagnosed with Covid-19. The enhanced rate of Illness Benefit came to an end on Friday 30 September 2022.
In total, 528,561 individuals received at least one EIB payment. The breakdown by county of these individuals is shown in the table below.
Table 1: Recipients of EIB, by county
|
County |
Recipients |
|
Carlow |
7,360 |
|
Cavan |
9,717 |
|
Clare |
13,339 |
|
Cork |
58,176 |
|
Donegal |
17,130 |
|
Dublin |
133,187 |
|
Galway |
33,284 |
|
Kerry |
16,311 |
|
Kildare |
24,398 |
|
Kilkenny |
11,261 |
|
Laois |
9,926 |
|
Leitrim |
3,292 |
|
Limerick |
21,487 |
|
Longford |
5,000 |
|
Louth |
15,332 |
|
Mayo |
15,785 |
|
Meath |
23,501 |
|
Monaghan |
7,909 |
|
Offaly |
9,226 |
|
Roscommon |
6,977 |
|
Sligo |
7,234 |
|
Tipperary |
18,397 |
|
Waterford |
15,003 |
|
Westmeath |
10,431 |
|
Wexford |
18,410 |
|
Wicklow |
13,929 |
|
Unknown |
2,559 |
|
Total |
528,561 |
309. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection in view of the recommendation of the European Commission in late November 2022 that member states recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease if contracted by workers in disease prevention, in health and social care, in domiciliary assistance or during a pandemic in other sectors where there is an outbreak and where a risk of infection has been proven, if she plans to review the current Government position on the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7550/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department provides a suite of income supports to those who cannot work due to illness or disability. It is important to note that eligibility for these payments is generally not dependent on the type of the illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work.
Occupational Injuries Benefit is an income support provided by my Department to those who got injured at work or travelling to and from work, or who contracted a prescribed disease at work.
Covid-19 does not constitute a prescribed disease or illness as set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 as it does not meet the criteria laid down in the Act. Section 87 (2) of the Act states that a disease or injury shall be prescribed for the purposes of this section in relation to any insured persons, where the Minister is satisfied that—
(a) it ought to be treated, having regard to its causes and any other relevant considerations, as a risk of their occupations and not as a risk common to all persons, and
(b) it is such that, in the absence of special circumstances, the attribution of particular cases to the nature of the employment can be established or presumed with reasonable certainty.
The decision on whether to recognise an illness as an occupational illness is a Member State competence. My Department is aware of the recommendation of the European Commission in this matter and is consulting with other relevant departments on the matter.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
310. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a location (details supplied) is due to be used as accommodation for people seeking international protection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7797/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraDeputy, as of 05 February 23, there are 19,741 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole, compared with 7,500 at this time last year. Of this total, 4,096 are children. Since the beginning of 2022, Ireland and many other European countries are experiencing a significant increase of new arrivals seeking international protection (IP). Last year, over 15,000 people arrived in Ireland seeking accommodation while their applications for international protection is processed by the International Protection Office. Over the period 2017-2019 an average of 3,500 people applied for protection each year. The State has a legal and moral obligation to assess the claims of those who seek refuge, and in that time to provide accommodation and supports. Intensive efforts are undertaken daily by staff in DCEDIY and the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) to source emergency accommodation. However, procuring enough bed space to keep pace with incoming arrivals remains extremely challenging, leading to very significant shortages. All of the limited accommodation capacity within the IPAS system is currently being used. Given the significantly increased numbers of arrivals in the context of accommodation shortages, the Department is considering all offers of accommodation to address the shortfall.The Department cannot comment on any specific plans for accommodation pending the agreement of rates, terms and contracts with providers as this is commercially sensitive information. If a facility is being contracted for international protection accommodation, the Department engages with local representatives to provide information as soon as possible following the agreement of terms with contractors. Over the past year, communities across Ireland have demonstrated great solidarity and welcome for those who come here seeking refuge. I trust this information clarifies the matter Deputy.
311. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware of the problems at a hotel accommodating Ukrainian refugees (details supplied), including the eviction of refugees; the steps he intends taking to address the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7812/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland has responded to the largest displacement of people on the European continent since the Second World War. Since February 2022, my Department has worked to accommodate an unprecedented volume of persons seeking refuge from the invasion of Ukraine, coming to over 74,000 people, of which over 54,000 have sought accommodation.
Overseeing provision of accommodation on this scale during this timeframe for all those who require it remains immensely challenging. Due to the urgent need to source accommodation, my Department has contracted in excess of 43,000 beds to accommodate Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) in more than 700 settings including hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, hostels, commercial self-catering accommodation and certain other repurposed settings.
The priority is to place people fleeing the war in safe and secure accommodation.
My Department is aware of the issue referred to by the Deputy. My Department does not comment on individual cases and matters will be addressed in accordance within existing procedures.
312. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide a list of all recipients of lottery funding in south Dublin from his Department from 2011 to 2023, in tabular form. [7819/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraNational Lottery funding is used to part-fund youth organisations and youth services throughout the country, including in South Dublin. My Department distributes funding under three programmes:
- UBU Your Place Your Space – provides funding to targeted youth services across 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs);
- Youth Services Grant Scheme - provides funding to 30 national and major regional voluntary youth organisations; and
- Youth Information Centres – 21 Youth Information Centres are funded nationally.
South Dublin county comes under the remit of the two ETBs - City of Dublin ETB and Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB.
€75million was made available in funding under these programmes in 2023, made up of Exchequer and National Lottery funding.
It is not possible to provide a list of recipients of National Lottery funding for South Dublin, as funding allocated by my Department to national youth organisations and ETBs is not disaggregated between Exchequer and National Lottery funding. In addition, In the case of the national youth organisations, they are not required to report on their expenditure on a county basis.
My Department has, since 2020, published information on youth organisations and services which are part-funded by the National Lottery. The information is available at www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/91394c-youth-affairs/
My Department operated a National Lottery Funding Scheme from 2011 to 2014 which provided grants to community groups and programmes to support children, young people and families. The Scheme provided funding of €500, 000 each year from 2011 to 2014. Information is not available on the amount of the funding allocation which was used for projects in South Dublin.
313. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide a list of all recipients of the funding allocated to the Dublin local authorities play and recreation grant fund for the refurbishment and development of playgrounds and play areas on 2011 to 2023, in tabular form. [7820/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Capital Grant Scheme Play and Recreation was introduced in 2013 to provide capital funding to support new and existing play and recreation facilities for all children and young people. The application process for 2023 opened in early February with a closing date of March 10th. A maximum grant of up to €18,000 will be allocated to each successful Local Authority.
The following table shows the allocation of funding to the Dublin local authorities under this Scheme from 2013 to 2022.
Dun Laoghaire
|
Year |
Amount |
Project |
|
2013 |
€0 |
|
|
2014 |
€0 |
|
|
2015 |
€0 |
|
|
2016 |
€0 |
|
|
2017 |
€14,000 |
Children’s Playground at McCabe Villas. |
|
2018 |
€0 |
|
|
2019 |
€0 |
|
|
2020 |
€0 |
|
|
2021 |
€16,832 |
Wheelchair accessible ability swing installation in The People's Park and Marley Park. |
|
2022 |
€0 |
Fingal
|
Year |
Amount |
Project |
|
2013 |
€20,000 |
To provide new children’s natural play area in Hermitage Park. |
|
2014 |
€15,000 |
Provision of the Tyrrelstown Treehouses Adventure Playground. |
|
2015 |
€0 |
|
|
2016 |
€0 |
|
|
2017 |
€0 |
|
|
2018 |
€3,000 |
Phase 2 - compromises the development and extension of the existing playground in Waterville Park, Blanchardstown. |
|
2019 |
€19,500 |
Fortlawn Community Playground; upgrade of existing equipment |
|
2020 |
€16,500 |
Upgrade and repurpose of disused tennis court adjacent to Waterside playground in Waterside Park, Malahide.St. Anne's Square, Portmarnock playground resurfacing. |
|
2021 |
€16,132 |
Adventure trail and Zipline in Glebe park playground, Balrothery. |
|
2022 |
€15,191 |
St. Catherine's Park playground, Rush upgrade. |
Dublin City
|
Year |
Amount |
Project |
|
2013 |
€0 |
|
|
2014 |
€15,000 |
Repair and redevelop an existing playground in Cherry Orchard. |
|
2015 |
€8,600 |
Phase 2'. Project to develop play spaces for children In Local Authority housing through re-imaging and co-creating natural landscapes of play. |
|
2016 |
€10,000 |
Play for older children and Youth Shelter & Teen Zone. |
|
2017 |
€14,000 |
Play Sufficiency - Phase 1Securing sufficient play opportunities for children and young people in Dublin City. Implementation of an action plan to provide sufficient quality and quantity of public playgrounds throughout Dublin City. |
|
2018 |
€12,000 |
Play Sufficiency - Phase 2 |
|
2019 |
€0 |
|
|
2020 |
€22,500 |
Play Sufficiency Phase 3 - Re-imagining Stardust Playground |
|
2021 |
€16,832 |
Play Sufficiency Phase 4 - Teenage Kicks at Ringsend Park. |
|
2022 |
€16,541 |
Eamonn Ceannt Park, Crumlin, playground upgrade. |
South Dublin
|
Year |
Amount |
Project |
|
2013 |
€10,000 |
Provide new children’s natural play area in Ballycragh Park. |
|
2014 |
€15,000 |
Rathcoole Park Play Space. |
|
2015 |
€20,000 |
Griffeen Avenue Play space, Lucan- project combining natural play with traditional formal play elements. |
|
2016 |
€10,000 |
Tymon Park Playground. |
|
2017 |
€14,000 |
Tymon Park Playground. |
|
2018 |
€12,000 |
Perrystown Playspace. |
|
2019 |
€24,000 |
Waterstown Park Play Trail; wheel chair accessible natural play area and picnic table. |
|
2020 |
€24,000 |
Corkagh Park Refurbishment and Natural Play Trail. |
|
2021 |
€16,132 |
Woodland Play space in Rathfarnham Castle Park. |
|
2022 |
€16,541 |
Accessible play space in Dodder Valley Park. |
314. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when legislative proposals arising from the review of the Equality Acts will be brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if measures to prevent the overuse of non-disclosure agreements in discrimination and sexual harassment disputes will be included in those proposals. [7830/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is intended that some legislative proposals arising from the review of the Equality Acts will be brought forward before the end of the year. However the nature of these proposals is dependent on further research and consultation. The review is examining the use of non-disclosure agreements by employers in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination along with other issues raised in the public consultation on the review of the Equality Acts. In the coming weeks I intend to publish the report of the submissions to the public consultation which was carried out by my Department.
315. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will examine the introduction of public provision of childcare, as recommended by the expert group report, Partnership for the Public Good; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7834/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn Expert Group was established in September 2019 to develop a new funding model for the sector. Under their terms of reference, the Expert Group was not asked to propose changes to the current model of delivery (i.e. privately-operated provision), rather that the Group should seek to further achieve policy objectives of quality, affordability, accessibility and contributing to addressing disadvantage in a privately-operated system through increased public funding and public management.
In December 2021, Government adopted the 25 recommendations contained in the Expert Group report, Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare. The recommendations were accepted in full by Government and implementation of this new funding model is well underway. This new funding model will support delivery of early learning and childcare for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families. To achieve this, there is a need for greater State investment and greater public management of provision.
Of the 25 recommendations, three are grouped under the title 'Role of the State'. In particular, the final recommendation states that, “[I]n the medium term, the Minister should mandate the Department to examine whether some element of public provision should be introduced alongside private provision.”
Taken together, these recommendations reflect a key theme of the report, which is the importance of strengthened State involvement and enhanced public management in the sector, in conjunction with increased State funding. This is underpinned by a cultural shift to a partnership relationship between providers and the State that reflects the public good dimension of early learning and childcare, with new responsibilities on both sides.
In September 2022, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare. This new funding model supports the delivery of early learning and childcare for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families as well as stability and sustainability for providers. Together for Better brings together three major programmes, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, including the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the new Core Funding scheme.
Core Funding, which began in September 2022, is the new funding stream worth €259 million in full year costs to start this partnership for the public good between the State and providers. Its primary purpose is to improve pay and conditions in the sector as a whole and improve affordability for parents as well as ensuring a stable income to providers.
The new funding model being implemented aims to transform the sector to one that is increasingly publicly funded and publicly managed, delivering a service for the public good, through a partnership between the State and providers, to the benefit of children, parents, practitioners, and society overall.
This is the start of a multi-annual investment plan. It, along with other Budget 2023 announcements realises the First 5 target of investment of €1 billion five years ahead of schedule. Core Funding introduces a strategic way of funding the sector and begins to implement the recommendations of the Expert Group to develop a new funding model.
Together for Better begins a journey that I am confident will see exceptional standards of early learning and childcare achieved, delivering Government commitments in Partnership for the Public Good, expanding the sector and growing capacity through public management and investment, and ensuring positive outcomes for children, their families, and society overall.
316. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide a schedule of the non-commercial and semi-State commercial companies under his aegis; if an explanatory memorandum will be provided in respect of the policy of a dividend payment to the Exchequer from each company; the dividend paid by each company to the Exchequer for each year from 2000 to 2022; if his Department collects the funds and forwards them to the central fund or whether they go directly; if over that period his Department has requested an increase in respect of the dividend due over its percentage shareholding; the number of occasions it waived the dividend; the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7899/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere is one body under the aegis of my department that is a company; Gaisce is registered as Company Limited by Guarantee.
Gaisce has charitable status and does not pay any dividend to the Exchequer.
317. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when a payment will be made to a centre (details supplied) housing Ukrainian refugees; the reason for the delay in making this payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7919/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has engaged over 700 properties to provide accommodation for Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection. In line with the Department’s commitment to substantially clear the backlog at the end of 2022, my Department temporarily re-assigned staff from other parts of the Department to the payments team in December, doubling the size of the payments unit. The enlarged team approved more than 100 million euros worth of payments.
My Department is prioritising maintaining a practice of more timely payments, including providing more resources to address any issues. Any delays in processing payments are deeply regretted and the Department is according this issue very high priority.
I am advised by my officials that a payment to the provider referred to is set to issue in the coming week, pending final checks.
