Mr. Niall Egan:

I was not aware of that, but I can understand why the Parliamentary Budget Office would have access. We could look at using SWITCH to produce a more up-to-date indicator, similar to what the ESRI did last Friday with its budget perspectives and what impact the budget measures announced last week will have on certain cohorts. We can look at that measure to supplement the existing poverty indicators.

Numerous issues were raised about supplementary welfare and additional needs payments, including the centralisation. Last year, we saw a record increase in applications for additional needs payments. As regards progressive measures, the Deputy referred to the telephone, 8,500 telephone calls were received per month about access or looking for support for additional needs payments and there was a 98% call answering rate. It is important to acknowledge that. We also have the online service and 20% of claims are coming in online. The payment levels of additional needs payments are comparable to previous years, such as 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. We can give the committee some material on that trend, but it might be a supplement to the PSPR. We acknowledge - it also came through strongly at the last meeting on 5 July - that the committee would like us to look at additional needs payments from a PSPR perspective. We will take that on board.

The Chair raised several questions and suggestions about the impact our schemes are having on successful progression to employment, including the working family payment, back to work family dividend, back to school clothing and footwear allowance, among others. That would involve detailed evaluations. They are what we in the Department call econometric evaluation queries. They are the big questions, such as whether the things we are investing in and how the scheme was designed are genuinely impactful. A programme of work is under way in the Department. We are undertaking two econometric reviews at the moment. One is on employment support schemes, community employment and Tús. It is at an advanced stage. Earlier this year, we also commenced an evaluation on the back to work family dividend. The reviews will answer those types of questions. We will take on board the request to see whether there is anything in terms of employment services we can include at a higher level in next year's PSPR. It might look at something along the lines of how many people we have supported and where they are three or six months later. We will take it back and try to work on it.

The committee is concerned that not everyone is availing of the carer's support grant. I cannot answer that question, but 34,000 people received the carer's support grant last year who were not in receipt of a primary social welfare payment. That gives a sense of-----