Ms Helen Faughnan:

I will double check that and come back to the Deputy with a response. The rationale behind the mortgage interest supplement was that it would be a short-term income support. For example, a person who was working and paying their mortgage but lost their job would generally have been out of employment only for a short time. The supplement was a helping hand so that they did not get into trouble with their mortgage and to allow them to pay the interest on it until they got back into employment. Unfortunately, because of the recession, the numbers requiring the supplement have grown hugely. In effect, the State was paying, to the tune of €42 million, the interest portion to the banks and other lenders. However, in many cases the mortgage holder was not engaging with the lender or vice versa. That was not a sustainable solution for anybody. We therefore brought in a change. Through the Central Bank, all the banks and lending institutions have set up arrears support units purposely to engage one to one with people in mortgage difficulty. That is the correct solution. We made that change last year to ensure people are engaging with their banks and other lending institutions in order that they come up with solutions between them.

We have put in place the mortgage support arrears information and advice service for mortgage holders. That is a robust solution for people in mortgage difficulties. The approach to supporting people is three-pronged. The mortgage arrears information helpline provides general mortgage arrears information and signposts people to the code of conduct on mortgage arrears and other supports that are available to them. Approximately 7,300 calls have been made since July last year when the helpline was set up. The website www.keepingyourhome.ie is practical and popular - around 150,000 visits to that site have been made since June last year. The third strand to how we are helping is the provision of independent financial advice to mortgage holders. When the customer goes back and engages with their lender and they are presented with a long-term mortgage resolution, they can come and access a panel of accountants - 2,000 accounts are participating around the country and their details are on www.keepingyourhome.ie - and receive advice about how best to proceed. The accountants are on the side of the mortgage holder, breaking down the information that they are getting from the lender. That is a valuable support to the person in mortgage difficulty.

The mortgage-to-rent scheme is administered by the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. To date, the agency is progressing around 1,000 cases, lenders are engaging with almost 600 households and 22 cases have been completed. Generally, people continue to live in their own residence but instead of paying a mortgage on it, the agency takes it over and the person pays rent to the agency. There are around 300 such cases in which mortgage interest supplement is being paid. The scheme is a work in progress, and we hope to see it developed further because we need long-term solutions for these people if they are to move out of their mortgage difficulties.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh asked about JobsPlus. More than 400 new full-time jobs have been supported under JobsPlus. As I mentioned, 1,100 employers have been approved and they can proceed to recruitment. Prospective employees can check online their eligibility to the scheme. They can then go to an employer and tell the employer they are entitled on their behalf to €7,500 or €10,000 over the three years. In effect, the scheme is a passport for the potential employee to go to the employer. As I also mentioned, 2,100 job seekers have applied to check out their eligibility on our online website.

Our Department is making the selections on the gateway scheme. That is part of the Department's three-pronged approach. We are not only income support and activation, but control. Some people are job ready and ready to engage in the workplace. Others may not be quite as job ready. Such initiatives help them to engage with the workforce.

It is similar to Tús and the community employment scheme. We write to a random selection of clients stating that if they are agreeable, we will pass on their details to the local authority with regard to the Gateway scheme. If for some reason they are not inclined to take up this offer, we will engage with them from a progression point of view to try to identify what is stopping them and whether we need to support them in areas such as literacy, or whether we need to engage with them on a control issue, because if they refuse the offer, penalty rates provisions kick in.

There will be training and support provided with regard to the Gateway scheme, and a total of €2.8 million has been provided from the Dormant Account Fund to local authorities to support training such as Safe Pass and any personal protection requirements such as boots, helmets and high visibility jackets. Any other training required, such as manual handling, will be identified on a one-to-one basis with the local authorities. Some people, possibly those who have moved from the construction industry, will be job ready and will be able to engage immediately with the local authority, but others may need a refresher course. This money has been ring-fenced to provide this.

With regard to PRSI, the other bonus for the Exchequer with regard to JobsPlus is these people will be in jobs, and while the rate of pay will be dependent on the employer, in general the minimum wage must apply-----