Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Like Deputy O'Dea, we will not be opposing this Supplementary Estimate. It is obvious that no one will oppose an Estimate for money that will go to the most vulnerable in society. My only problem is that it has arrived on the day of the budget and we have not had more time to debate it and to tease out some of the major failures underlying the Estimate put before us on last year's budget day, an Estimate that was revised twice during the year. There was a failure in terms of predicting how bad the situation would get and how some of the heads in question would be left short or reach their targets.

The main change is the shortfall in the Social Insurance Fund. It could have been predicted, albeit not to the full degree. It is short €400 million, which is a substantial amount. Some of that could have been predicted, given the number of people who are unemployed and dependent on jobseeker's benefit and the fact that people are living and drawing their pensions for longer. The Social Insurance Fund is set up in such a way that, in times of recession, it will be short and dependent on fund transfers from the Exchequer. No one is arguing that this should not happen. In times of plenty, the fund is supposed to be bumped up to the point at which it becomes sufficient to address the cyclical nature of the economy.

This shows up the fact that our society and the Government in particular face a major challenge in ensuring that people are in work. This Government and the previous one did not live up to it. If people were working, the Social Insurance Fund would not be as short as it is. This is the key element for each of the heads under discussion.

Continuing to cut social welfare has an effect on the number of people employed. If there is less money in people's pockets, it has a knock-on effect on the local economy and those supplying it. Later today, we will see whether the Minister for Finance has any news in terms of protecting endangered jobs.

A number of heads are short. For example, the FIS requires an extra €32 million, some 16% of the Revised Estimate. Not only does this relate to my point on more people being out of work, but it also means that those currently in employment are on reduced hours. They are underemployed. A number of studies, including one by this committee, have been done on how to address this issue. Given people's low incomes, they can apply for FIS. It is a safety net for the working poor.

Deputy O'Dea touched on a further matter, namely, the Tús, or yellow pack, community employment, CE, scheme. It could not spend €18 million plus. The JobBridge scheme could not spend €11 million plus. We requested that the Minister for Social Protection protect the CE scheme and increase the number of places thereon, yet it is not succeeding to meet its targets. The key point is not that people are refusing to take up Tús or JobBridge placements. The figure for subhead A21, the back to education allowance, shows that the Minister is seeking additional money. Tús has €16 million extra.

This indicates that unemployed persons are willing to take up places on viable schemes which will improve their employability. That is the reason Tús or JobBridge has not been as fully subscribed as the back to education scheme. People want to avail of the opportunity to return to education. We should, therefore, concentrate more on the community employment and back to education schemes. Tús provides no additional benefit in terms of education and outcomes. The course is for only one year and the host organisations receive no additional money for training. It is hoped the logic of the figures outlined will be reflected in the following year in terms of the investment of more money in the community employment and back to education schemes to ensure improved outcomes and that changes will be made to make it easier for people who have just been laid off to get back into education where no jobs are available. The figures for available jobs are in the public domain. In this regard, the latest statistics from the European Union which I have quoted on a number of occasions indicate that for every vacancy there are 50 unemployed persons. As it is not possible to fit 50 into one, we need to create more jobs, which is the challenge for the Government. It must encourage the creation of jobs by Irish entrepreneurs and other businesses which are sustainable.

Spending on supplementary welfare allowance has increased by €20.7 million. In some ways, this is reflective of emergency payments owing to waiting times in the processing of applications. It is also a reflection of the long delays faced in terms of processing times. As such, the longer people have to wait the longer they will be in receipt of emergency payments. If processing times were faster, take up of schemes would increase. Also, while a reduction in waiting times for supplementary welfare allowance, jobseeker's benefit or carer's allowance could result in a decrease in these figures, it could result in increases in others. The key is to ensure those in need of payments are paid. In this regard, waiting times must be reduced as quickly as possible. While persons in receipt of supplementary welfare are entitled to participate in the back to education and community employment schemes, they cannot often do so until their entitlement to payment has been determined.

I am not sure if it is proposed that the sub-committee address and vote on the subheads individually. While much of the information provided is useful, it is a pity we only received it on the day before we are due to receive the Estimates for next year. This information will be redundant as of this afternoon because it relates to this year's rather than next year's expenditure.