Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was listening to it very closely. I think Deputy Clare Daly might have read from a similar e-mail when she was making her contribution. The eligibility rules that govern payment for student maintenance grants are matters for the Department of Education and Skills. However, I am mindful that the principal aim of the reform of the one-parent family payment is to support customers in education. For that reason, this issue is being considered by my officials and by officials from the Department of Education and Skills. Deliberations on this process will conclude very shortly.

We heard a number of contributions on various aspects of the JobBridge scheme, which was introduced to target people who were at a distance from the labour market. The qualification for it was that one had to have been unemployed for six months. I know from my own community that when people drift into unemployment and move past the six-month period, it is very difficult for them to get back into work. Equally, it is difficult for people to get a job for the first time after leaving school. Highly critical remarks have been made about the JobBridge scheme, but the figures stand up for themselves. I have spent a great deal of time over the last six months talking to JobBridge participants and interns who have actually gone through the process. The vast majority of them are extremely positive about it. They say it gave them the experience which got them back into work. I met a man in Waterford who had worked for Waterford Glass in quite a niche area. He got an internship with a local employer and that led to a managerial role in an area in which he never thought his career would go. He thought he would never get back into employment, but he got a JobBridge internship and that led back into employment.

Another young lady came from abroad and her argument was why she should have to wait six months being unemployed because she knew that JobBridge would lead to her gaining experience that would lead to her finding a job. The robust investigations that take place when the Department receives complaints show a tiny minority of employers take advantage, but the complaints are dealt with. Just under 40,000 positions have been advertised since the introduction of JobBridge and 458 complaints have been made, all of which have been thoroughly investigated. Deputy Dessie Ellis referred to a recent survey of 87 people, which is not a good sample size, but the majority of it was positive about JobBridge.

Many of the schemes we operate in the Department of Social Protection help people to gain experience and get back to work. Persons who are unemployed for two years can get into the practice of good timekeeping, which has been helpful in people getting back to work. I do not take lightly the criticism of the scheme because I have seen dedicated individuals become involved and it has led to work. I visited one Gateway scheme in River Valley in Swords where I talked to participants. One young man said it was the first time he had felt he was contributing to his community and that he was very proud of the work he was doing. He believed it would lead to full-time employment because he had never experienced working in an outdoor setting and saw it as a real career move. He can contribute to his community.

The back to work family dividend forms the main part of the Bill, but it was the subject of little discussion. I welcome the broad support of Deputies for it.

Deputy Willie O'Dea raised a number of issues, including the reason the dividend should be withdrawn if workers qualified for illness benefit for more than six weeks and why the welfare status of a child would impact on entitlement to the dividend. The dividend is based on the concept of supporting families exiting the welfare system. If a person returns to the system, whether an adult family member or a child, the dividend may be reduced or withdrawn. This makes the scheme simple and easy to understand. In the case of illness benefit, the benefit paid may be less than the wage and the dividend is, after a period of 36 days, withdrawn. Support must be withdrawn if people return to welfare payments. Otherwise, the scheme would not incentivise people to exit the system; rather, it would have the opposite effect. Children's support will be withdrawn if people are engaged in a programme under which they are paid an allowance. This is logical and will also protect against double incentives.

Deputy Willie O'Dea mentioned something that struck a chord with me. He said people received a full payment for the first year and a half payment for the second. I believe he reported that people had asked him why they should work if they would lose the payment after two years. I think I took him up correctly, but perhaps it was he who was saying this.

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