Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I have a couple of questions, just to add to the Minister's problems. I congratulate him and his team on the excellent process that is Action Plan for Jobs. It has turned around how work is done across all Departments. That we are on the third plan and have gone from 250 actions in the first to nearly 400 in this one proves that they are working. The percentage success rate each year is in the high 90s. I compliment the Minister and his team, as they have had a role in that. It is appreciated, as our job is easier if we have something to aim for by the end of the year. I assume that the same logic applies in every Department. It is easy to follow what must be done and by whom. It is a good system.
Naturally, we are glad to see some of our recommendations making their way into the plan. It is important that these issues, be they highlighted to us at our meetings or raised by others, be implemented. We view our committee as a forum to discuss issues that can then be passed up the line.
I have written down the Minister's comment about his Department using its own channels and agencies to convey the information. However, every company deals with Revenue on a monthly, if not weekly, basis. Every e-mail that we receive from the Department of Health or the HSE contains a little message at the bottom about some health initiative it is undertaking, for example, eating healthily, breastfeeding, etc. A simple message could be sent via Revenue or the companies office suggesting that people check out JobsPlus, etc. A tag line at the bottom should not cost much. Companies are under so much pressure that they do not have time to stop and think. Even this committee might not know about all of the Department's schemes. Companies should be targeted. We must use other agencies - for example, companies are members of the chambers and so on - to get messages about the various schemes out there. The Minister has gone to a lot of effort to make this particular scheme simpler and easier to use. The missing element is how to drive the message home.
A prime example is the family income supplement, FIS, although it does not relate to the Minister's Department. We are nearly keeping it a secret, as if we do not want people using it. It is the solution to the gap that many people are trying to close. Getting it can be complicated and the process can be slow, but we can consider that issue. Most people do not know it exists. Perhaps that is on purpose, but we should be pushing this solution.
Many of the airwaves are taken up by companies claiming that they cannot fill vacancies that are not for high-skilled jobs. We cannot blame people for this. Their families' safety nets are their social welfare entitlements. They are afraid to lose them. This situation is down to misinformation, in that people are being told that they will lose out and that it will take six months to get their entitlements back. We need to do something to close that gap. This is the responsibility of the Department of Social Protection, but the Minister's Department also has a role to play. If companies cannot find employees for jobs that are easily fillable, it poses a difficulty. We must try to fight this battle.
We have JobsPlus and so on to encourage the employment of people in receipt of social welfare payments, but such people are afraid to leave their entitlements. Housing assistance will begin in July, but perhaps the simplest approach would be to tell people that they can keep their medical cards and everything else for three months after starting work. The fear is that their jobs might not suit them or vice versaand they must return to social welfare in one or two months time. In some offices, though, getting back on the system is difficult. I accept that, in some offices, the process is straightforward and people can hop on and hop off, but that is not the case everywhere. Will the Minister raise this matter with his colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton? Staying on the system for an extra three months will not break the system.
Last week, we discussed the failure rate with Mr. Sean O'Sullivan and Ireland's perception of failure. I have often encountered this in the agencies under the Minister's aegis, in that they may be afraid of having too many failures on their books, be they the microenterprise loan fund, the enterprise boards or so on. If we do not want a certain amount of failure, it means we are not doing our jobs right because we are not giving people a chance. I have seen some of the agencies' refusals. For example, the microenterprise loan fund is afraid to give €15,000 to a company in case it fails. We must take a whole-of-government approach. If someone is given a loan of €15,000, it gets him or her out of the social welfare system for a year. The taxpayer has not lost if the company goes down the Swanee. I encourage a different approach to grant aid, particularly if entrepreneurs are in receipt of social welfare payments. The two Departments could work together. The State will not lose if we give someone a chance for a year, even if we believe that he or she might fail. The same money is being spent, but by a different Department. It is not the end of the world. We are supposed to have joined-up thinking, but I have still not seen it in some of the agencies. People are doing their jobs right, ticking the boxes and being cautious with taxpayers' money. Joined-up thinking is missing in some cases.
In every agency and support system, red tape can get in the way of common sense and keep someone from getting help, losing us a potential jobs opportunity. This is the greatest shame. Red tape has replaced common sense too often. We must change those systems. Perhaps the Minister should advise his staff on what is an acceptable failure rate. He may have done so already, but I sense the agencies' fear of failing. We must move on.
We have the solutions. It is just a matter of getting the message out there, driven by the right person. At a lower level, the two Departments need to work together to get some people off the system and to give them a chance.