Written answers
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Department of Social Protection
Programme for Government Implementation
Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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524. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline, in tabular form, the commitments in the programme for Government which come under her remit; if each commitment has been met or is in the process of being met; the estimated time for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34686/13]
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Programme for Government commits to implementing a fundamental programme of reform of the system of social protection. The scale of this reform is challenging and wide-reaching. I am committed to working with the Department and its agencies in the delivery of the commitments in this Programme for Government and substantial progress on many of the commitments has already been made.
The second Annual Report which sets out the implementation status of my Department's main achievements in the Programme for Government was published by the Department of the Taoiseach in March 2013 and is available on http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Publications/Publications_2013/Programme_for_Government_Annual_Report_20131.pdf. It is the Government's intention to publish the third Annual Report in March 2014 which will set out specific progress during 2013. The timeline for the delivery of my Department's commitments for Programme for Government is over the lifetime of the Government.
The status summary on the implementation of the commitments relevant to my Department is outlined in the following table.
Commitments in the Programme for Government for which the Department of Social Protection has a primary role
| Commitment | Status Summary |
|---|---|
| Halve the lower 8.5% rate of PRSI up to end 2013 on jobs paying up to €356 per week - announced in the Jobs Initiative. | Implemented. |
| Expand eligibility for the back to education allowance. | Implementation options under consideration and two new initiatives are currently being piloted. |
| The development of a new graduate and apprentice internship scheme, work placement programmes and further education opportunities for our young unemployed providing an additional 60,000 places across a range of schemes and initiatives - announced in the Jobs Initiative. | Implementation in progress. |
| Replacing FÁS with a new National Employment and Entitlements Service (NEES) so that all employment and benefit support services will be integrated in a single delivery unit managed by the Department of Social Protection. This integrated service would provide a 'one stop shop' for people seeking to establish their benefit entitlements; looking for a job; and seeking advice about their training options. | Implementation underway, including roll out of Intreo. |
| The NEES will process citizen entitlements such as supplementary welfare allowances, higher education grants and welfare allowances. It will manage as much as possible means testing for State entitlements. It will also be responsible for employment referral and training supports provided by FÁS. This service will offer users a higher level of personalised employment counselling, with more frequent face-to-face interviews. Those on the live register who are identified as being most at risk of long-term unemployment will receive priority treatment for more intensive support. It will ensure active case management for people in need of assistance. | Implementation underway, including roll out of Intreo. |
| Maintain the standard 10.75% rate of employers PRSI. | Implemented. |
| Introduce a range of measures to tackle the problem of welfare fraud. | A range of measures have been implemented and further measures are under consideration. |
| Establish a Tax and Social Welfare Commission to examine entitlements of self employed and the elimination of disincentives to employment. The Commission will examine the interaction between the taxation and the welfare systems to ensure that work is worthwhile. In particular, it will examine family and child income supports, and a means by which self-employed people can be insured against unemployment and sickness | Implemented. Implementation in progress. |
| Convert the Money Advice and Budgeting Service into a strengthened Personal Debt Management Agency with strong legal powers. | The Personal Insolvency Act 2012 provides for a Debt Relief Notice (DRN) for persons with no assets or income with unsecured debts of no more that €20,000. With the assistance of an approved intermediary the Notice will allow for the full write off of qualifying unsecured debt after a 3 year supervisory period. At the request of the Minister, the Citizens Information Board agreed that MABS would act as Approved Intermediaries for the purposes of the provision of DRNs. Sanction has been given by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for 16 temporary staff to be assigned to MABS for up to 2 years to establish an Approved Intermediary Service (AIS) for the purposes of processing DRNs. An implementation process is underway and the CIB/MABS are working closely with the new Insolvency Service to ensure that the appropriate structures are in place within MABS to implement this new and important statutory role. It is intended that the Approved Intermediary Service will be mainstreamed within the local MABS network over a 2 year period. |
| Make greater use of Mortgage Interest Supplement to support families who cannot meet their mortgage payments. | Implementation options under consideration. |
| Maintain Social Welfare rates. | Implemented. |
| Committed to achieving the targets in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion to reduce the number of people experiencing poverty. | Implementation of the National Social Target for Poverty Reduction continues to be rolled out in 2013, including publication of a Social Impact Assessment of Budget 2013, the holding of the Social Inclusion Forum, publication of the first annual Social Inclusion Monitor, updating of progress towards the Europe 2020 poverty target in National Reform Programme 2013. The Department of Social Protection is continuing to work with relevant stakeholders on setting the sub-targets for children and jobless households, towards formulating proposals for these sub-targets during 2013. |
| We will examine the social protection system with a view to identifying and eliminating poverty traps including;- Amending the 30 hour rule for Rent Supplement and Mortgage Interest Supplement for people moving from welfare to work. Activating people on a reduced week who refuse extra day(s) employment. Over time, One Parent Family Payment will be replaced with a parental allowance that does not discourage marriage, cohabitation or work. Our tax, social welfare and other laws should not discourage people from getting married or cohabiting. For example, single mothers lose the One Parent Family Payment if they marry. Over time, we will transform it into a family income-based payment that does not discourage marriage or work. | Examination of poverty traps underway. Under consideration. Under consideration. Changes to the One Parent Family Payment (OFP) are currently being implemented on a phased basis between 2012 and 2016. The purpose of these changes is to move the scheme much closer to the jobseeker schemes, tackle the high levels of lone parents suffering from consistent poverty and to improve outcomes for lone parents and their families. |
| A zero tolerance approach to welfare fraud, underpinned by a major anti-fraud enforcement drive. | A range of measures have been implemented and further measures are under consideration. |
| As well as more regular face-to-face interviews with an integrated employment and entitlements service for those of working age, other anti-fraud measures will be undertaken using latest available technology and better sharing of data across government departments and agencies. | A number of measures have been implemented and more are under consideration. The Department engages in extensive sharing of data with other Departments and agencies. |
| Progressively reduce reliance on Rent Supplement, with eligible recipients moving to the Rental Accommodation Scheme. | Implementation in progress. |
| Review the operation of the Rent Supplement Scheme and introduce a code of conduct for rent supplement eligibility similar to that which operates for local authority tenants. | Implementation in progress in co-operation with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government. |
| Pay rent supplement to tax-compliant landlords registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) and offering decent quality accommodation, to root out fraud. | Implementation in progress. |
| Divert staff from elsewhere in public service to clear the social welfare appeals backlog, and introduce a consolidated appeals process. | Implemented. |
| Put the household benefits packages out to tender, so that the Exchequer benefits from reduced prices. | Implementation not feasible based on advice from the Chief State Solicitors Office, the Commission for Energy Regulation and the Competition Authority as the Department is not the actual customer. Over the lifetime of the Programme there were ongoing negotiations with the major utility providers which did give improved deals and yielded savings. Other expenditure reducing measures have also been implemented. Other expenditure reducing measures have also been implemented. |
| Raise the issue of payment of Child Benefit in respect of non-resident children at EU level, and seek to have the entitlement modified to reflect the cost of living where a child is resident. We will examine all possible flexibility within European legislation to reduce the cost of this payment. | Issue has been raised and implementation of change in this area is unlikely. |
| Ensure that trans-gender people will have legal recognition and extend the protections of the equality legislation to them. | Proposals are being brought to Cabinet and it is intended that the outline heads of a Bill will be presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection in the autumn. |
| Reform the pension system to progressively achieve universal coverage, with particular focus on lower-paid workers, to achieve better risk sharing, and to provide for greater flexibility for those who wish to retire on a phased basis. | A number of measures have been implemented and further measures are under consideration. |
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