Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the last point on pensions, the answer is no. However, we are required by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Committee of Public Accounts to carry out random checks of all headings of social welfare expenditure where people are in receipt of income support. The Comptroller and Auditor General's office has made clear this requirement in each of its reports in the past five to eight years. It is a requirement with which we must comply by way of full surveys of a minimum of 1,000 people, including lone parents, pensioners, child benefit recipients and so on. In addition, we write to more than 1 million people to check whether they are still residing at the address given.

Regarding what subsequently happens to people who have signed on for a jobseeker's payment, under the new system, they are also signing on for the services of their local Intreo office which include the provision of a personal services card. That has been rolled out in the new offices to all jobseekers. Persons who are approved for a jobseeker's payment are required, as part of deterring fraud and abuse, to collect their money at a post office. On the other hand, pensioners and those in receipt of other long-term payments have a choice of payment methods such as having their money paid into a bank account or their local post office.

The Deputy will be pleased to hear that just before Christmas we signed a contract with An Post - I believe she worked for the latter in the past - which is worth €50 million to it to provide social welfare services on behalf of the Department. In rural areas and in many city suburbs, the post office is very much the location of choice for people to obtain their social welfare payments. We also ask jobseekers to present at their local post offices because this is a further way of checking that they are in the country and available to collect their payments. New jobseekers receive personal services cards which include their photographs and various details by means of which they can prove their identity. Those cards can be matched against our IT and facial recognition technology. We receive weekly reports containing photographs of persons in possession of personal services cards - the system is similar to that used for security purposes in airports - in which similarities to images of individuals who have already signed on at other offices have been detected. The facial recognition technology allowed us to apprehend one individual with five different identities.

As already stated, people are assisted in getting back to work. They take part in general group interviews and are then dealt with by individual case officers. In the context of the latter, a one-to-one discussion takes place as to what is best for a particular person in terms of ensuring that he or she returns to work. When people come to our social welfare offices, they are also profiled. Their previous work experience and levels of remuneration, details of their education and where they live are all taken into account. Where a person lives may be a factor in the context of how far he or she can realistically travel in the interests of taking up an employment or educational opportunity. Based on the details provided, we arrive at what we call a probability of exit, PEX, from the live register. If a person has a high PEX score, he or she has a correspondingly high probability of exit from the live register. In that context, if a graduate is made redundant when his or her employer ceases operations, there will be other firms that are seeking to employ him or her. We would say that it is more than likely that he or she will find employment within six months. On the other hand, a person who left school at 16 and who worked in construction - he or she may have worked very hard but jobs in this area are much more scarce than previously - may need support in the context of returning to education. An issue also arises in respect of those with little or no literacy or numeracy skills. In order for such individuals to obtain employment, that issue must be addressed.

A series of checks, balances, means of encouragement and interviews are in place for people who are unemployed. If a person does not respond to letters or requests to attend at his or her local social welfare office, does not respond to requests to attend for interviews or is not really interested, he or she may be busy doing something else with his or her time. In such instances we have the power - we have used this sparingly since it became available to us in April 2011 - to reduce his or her social welfare payments by up to €44 per week. Last year, we reduced the payments of approximately 3,000 people. Our aim is to help people on jobseeker's benefit or allowance to return to work or to avail of education or training opportunities. Our staff are very supportive of people but we require that individuals co-operate with us. That is the way the system works.

Reference was made to England. I am only aware of the position in that jurisdiction as a result of certain media coverage in Ireland. We obtain enormous co-operation from people on a voluntary basis. I have visited social welfare and Intreo offices throughout the country and I am aware - as, I am sure, are members - of people's great desire to obtain employment and become financially independent. The level of co-operation with officials of the Department is extremely high. I take this opportunity to request that employers give real consideration to the talent that is available on the live register and to help those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own in returning to work. The Department is involved in supporting those employers who assist people in regaining employment.