Ms Jackie Harrington:

I thank the Chairman. I would like to introduce the team. I am from the social welfare policy unit and I am based in Sligo. I am joined by Ms Mary Pracht, who works with me in the unit, Ms Aideen Mooney, who is in the policy section of the PRSI credits, and by Mr. Carl O'Rourke, who is the operational manager for our homeless persons and new communities unit in Dublin.

I thank the joint committee for this opportunity to appear before it today on the matter of the recommendations of the committee in its report on direct provision and the supports provided by the Department of Social Protection to persons resident in these centres. As regards financial supports provided to asylum seekers, the Department’s role with regard to persons living in direct provision is mainly the provision of financial assistance. Asylum seekers are offered accommodation under the system of direct provision operated by the Reception and Integration Agency of the Department of Justice and Equality. Under this system, persons are provided with accommodation, all food and health services, together with other facilities and services designed to ensure their needs are met while seeking the protection of the State. In addition to the provision of basic necessities, a weekly allowance for personal expenditure, known as direct provision allowance, or DPA, is paid to protection seekers who reside within the system of direct provision.

DPA is administered by designated persons in the Department of Social Protection’s community welfare service on an administrative basis on behalf of the Department of Justice and Equality. Payment of the DPA, therefore, is not provided for within social welfare legislation and is not paid in accordance with the provisions of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. At the end of October 2015, there were more than 4,800 persons in direct provision accommodation with total expenditure of over €3 million by this Department on DPA.

In addition to DPA, the Department makes exceptional needs payments, ENPs, to persons in direct provision to help meet essential costs, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their income. ENPs made to direct provision residents are largely towards clothing costs, transport costs and the purchase of child-related items such as prams and buggies. To date in 2015, more than 13,100 ENPs have been paid to asylum seekers in direct provision at a cost of over €1 million.

Once granted status, persons can apply for the relevant Department of Social Protection weekly payments such as the jobseeker's payment or the one-parent family payment, including child benefit, appropriate to the circumstances of the individual person or family. ENPs are also paid to support the move from direct provision into the community, including assistance towards rent deposits. Applications are determined on a case by case basis, having regard to the individual circumstances presented.

Persons in direct provision also receive payments under the Department's back to school clothing and footwear scheme, which provides once-off assistance towards the cost of returning to school each September. In 2015 to date, approximately €113,000 has been paid in respect of 525 families under this scheme to persons resident in direct provision.

As regards service delivery, I refer to recommendation 8.7 of the committee’s report which refers to the provision of service in direct provision centres. The Department continues to examine the operation of all its services, including the administration of the community welfare service, in the context of the efficient delivery of services nationally to all its customers.

Where the community welfare service has been restructured, alternative arrangements have been put in place to ensure that customers are provided with ongoing access to the supports provided by the Department.

For example, in the event that a customer has difficulty attending a clinic due to illness, a visit to the client's residence may be arranged.

The Department continues to provide a presence in some of the direct provision centres. Where this is not the case, service is generally provided in the local Intreo centres. In these cases, the level of service has generally increased with improved facilities available to both customers and staff of the Department. The Department has received positive feedback from residents attending community welfare services in Intreo centres as it provides an opportunity to engage with the local community and fosters a more inclusive community spirit.

I will now address the issue of credits for social welfare contributions. In recommendation 8.6 of its report on the direct provision system, the committee sought recognition of time spent in direct provision for individuals who are subsequently granted residence, subsidiary protection or leave to remain in Ireland. The social insurance system in Ireland is based on the contributory principle whereby contributions are paid by workers which will give entitlement as a right to a varying range of benefits and pensions that are payable if and when particular contingencies arise. Therefore, for an individual to qualify for social insurance benefits, they must have paid PRSI contributions. Paid PRSI contributions are based on the payment of PRSI by the worker and if appropriate, their employer, calculated as a percentage of the worker's income. In addition, credited PRSI contributions, which are commonly referred to as "credits", may be awarded to protect social insurance entitlements of employees by covering gaps in insurance where they are not in a position to pay PRSI, for example, during periods of unemployment, illness, etc. To qualify for credits, a worker must have paid at least one PRSI contribution while working and have had an attachment to the workforce in the past two tax years as evidenced by having paid or credited PRSI contributions in that period. If these conditions are met, credits are only awarded in specific circumstances. These circumstances include proven unemployment or certified illnesses, receipt of specific social welfare payments or entitlement to certain statutory leave, such as parental leave. The award of credits is therefore predicated on the attachment of an employee to the workforce and only serves to bridge periods of temporary absence from the workforce. Credits on their own do not give an employee entitlement to social insurance benefits. It is only in combination with paid PRSI contributions that credits assist employees in qualifying for short-term schemes and enhance the level of benefit for long-term schemes. Therefore, the award of credits would not achieve the objective of providing persons who have been granted residence, subsidiary protection or leave to remain in Ireland with entitlement to social insurance benefits.

Where such persons enter the workforce, the payment of their first PRSI contribution as an employee will entitle them to pre-entry credits. The purpose of pre-entry credits is to enable new entrants to the social insurance system to qualify for benefits within a reasonable period after their date of entry once they have sufficient paid PRSI contributions. Pre-entry credits are awarded from the beginning of the relevant contribution year to the date on which they began to work,that is, their date of entry into social insurance as an employed contributor, and for the two previous contribution years before entry into insurable employment. In effect, the award of pre-entry credits to those granted residence, subsidiary protection or leave to remain and who take up employment will provide recognition for social insurance purposes of a period of between two to three years spent in the direct provision system

In respect of ongoing engagement and work in the area of asylum, a lot of work has been undertaken regarding the supports to asylum seekers within the past 12 months and officials in the Department of Social Protection have fully engaged with colleagues in the Department of Justice and Equality who have policy responsibility in this area. In its capacity of providing ongoing income support, the Department participated on the working group that reported to Government on improvements to the protection process, including direct provision and supports to asylum seekers. The Department has recently re-issued guidance to officers in the community welfare service administering DPA and other financial supports to ensure consistency throughout the various centres as recommended by the working group.

Following on from the recommendation of the working group, the Department was also represented on the task force on transitional supports for persons granted status in direct provision, which was chaired by the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Ó Ríordáin. The outcome from this group was the development of a comprehensive multi-agency information programme, including representation from this Department, which will be rolled out to all persons transitioning from direct provision centres and the production of a detailed information booklet.

I note the concerns of the committee regarding the transition of persons from direct provision into the community following receipt of status and the current rent limits under the rent supplement scheme. Provision of accommodation for those exiting direct provision is a matter, in the first instance, for the local authority either through social housing or the housing assistance payment, HAP, if HAP is being operated in that area. If these supports are not available, rent supplement will be considered. A review of the rent limits earlier this year found that the impact of increasing limits at a time of constrained supply will increase costs disproportionately for the Exchequer with little or no new housing available to recipients. Rather than increasing limits, rent supplement policy will continue to allow for flexibility where landlords seek rents in excess of the limits. Under this flexible approach, the circumstances of tenants are considered on a case-by-case basis and rents are being increased above prescribed limits, as appropriate. This approach has assisted over 4,900 households nationwide to secure and retain their rented accommodation.

To conclude, I assure the committee that the Department is committed to the ongoing provision of a high level of service to persons in direct provision and those arriving under the new Irish refugee protection programme as recently announced by Government. I trust the presentation is of assistance to the committee and I am happy to discuss any issues.