Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Faughnan for her presentation. JobsPlus is much simpler and I acknowledge that the scheme that preceded it was a little cumbersome. However, in its final full year of operation, how much was expended on it? How much is it envisaged that JobsPlus will cost the Exchequer annually? How many people were catered for under the original scheme? How many people is it envisaged will be catered for under JobsPlus?

I received a reply to a parliamentary question about self-employed jobseekers from the Minister for Social Protection on 18 September, which states:

A small number of disallowed jobseeker's claimants are included in the Live Register published total each month. There are 687 such disallowed claimants at the end of August 2013 Live Register count. This figure does not include any claimants in the self-employed jobseekers category as this group is excluded from the Live Register.

Am I to understand from that that self-employed people who are seeking employment are excluded from the live register? If they are excluded from the live register, they are also excluded from the scheme, which is confined to people who are to be taken off the live register.

In principle Gateway is a good idea. We are discussing part-time jobs to be given by local authorities. Again this is confined to people who are unemployed and presumably on the live register. This should be extended to people with disabilities, who would be qualified to do at least some of those jobs - we are not talking about full-time employment here. Participants work for an average of 19.5 hours a week and get €20 a week in addition to their social welfare payments. Are they free to work in other employment which might be available to them for the rest of the week? If they are not doing work over and above the 19.5 hours, are they allowed to hold on to any ancillary benefits they may have?

I draw attention to the requirement for Garda vetting, which is a source of great frustration. The Garda vetting operation is far too slow. I know of people who have been trying to get on to State schemes and have missed their opportunity - I dealt with such a case last week - because of the tardiness of the Garda vetting operation. Is anything happening in that regard?

On the mortgage interest scheme I welcome the change when the house is put up for sale. However, the major change here is the requirement that somebody must have done a deal with the lender and have paid in accordance with that deal for 12 months. When people run into trouble, that is the time they most need mortgage interest supplement. It takes a while to sit down, engage and work out a deal with the lender. They are exposed during that period and they are also exposed for the following 12 months.

I am surprised at the €42 million cost based on the general feedback I am getting. Mortgage interest supplement was understandably a fairly restrictive scheme given that it only deals with the interest portion of the repayment. The feedback I have got is that this change has made it all but useless for most people. Ms Faughnan said: "The underlying principle of this change ensures that the mortgage arrears resolution process operated by the lenders functions alongside State supports, including the mortgage interest supplement scheme, and that the forbearance arrangements implicit in the MARP are reflected in the eligibility criteria for the scheme." I do not understand that rationale. Even if there is a simpler explanation, in any case it is cold comfort for people who get into trouble and have to wait for God knows how long until they sit down and hammer out a deal with the lender, after which they must wait for another 12 months.

Ms Faughnan said that approximately 1,000 cases are being progressed under the mortgage-to-rent scheme. How many people are on these mortgage-to-rent schemes at the moment?