Ms Helen Faughnan:

I will respond first to the point made by Deputy Collins. I am aware of the case of the lone parent who applied to JobsPlus. While the scheme is being piloted, we are concentrating on the long-term unemployed. We will be reviewing the scheme and at that point will take into account issues such as those raised by the Deputy. The long-term unemployed, in respect of which numbers are very high, are our focus as part of the Pathways to Work programme.

On the Gateway levels of pay, for an unemployed person in receipt of a reduced payment of €100 or €144 per week owing to their age, this will increase to €208 per week as part of the Gateway initiative. As this is paid work, those who participate will be regarded as employed and not recorded on the live register.

On the mortgage interest supplement scheme, I appreciate from where the Deputy is coming. The Exchequer was subventing the lending institutions to the tune of €42 million per year. In some cases people were two to five years or more on the mortgage interest supplement scheme. This meant the bank or lending institution was receiving the interest but from the State. There was no engagement between the bank or lending institution and the mortgage holder, whose mortgage could have been sustainable. We needed to ensure mortgage holders were engaging with their lenders ahead of participation in the scheme. We will be reviewing the scheme in the context of the nature of the clients coming to us post-engagement with the mortgage arrears resolution process, MARP. It was never intended to be this type of scheme. As stated in the Keane report, this is not a sustainable solution.

I note Senator Moloney's points with regard to the self-employed and I will feed that message back as it relates to people on the live register on credits. With regard to the JobBridge figure-----