Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try to answer as many questions, and there were many, as best I can and if I have not answered on some issues I may be able to address them on Committee Stage.

I thank the Deputies for their contributions on the Bill. In response to Deputy Mattie McGrath, between last week and this week we will pay out €500 million in payments. Like the Deputy, I have been encouraging people to shop local because it is important that this money is spent in the local economy. It should help businesses the length and breadth of the country that when people go out to spend that money, they go to their local shops to do it.

A number of Deputies mentioned the fact that the Bill was delayed. A good deal of time was spent on the Brexit Bill and a few other issues but I had to wait until I got the space to come into the House.

At the outset, the Bill will give legislative effect to the changes announced on budget day and significantly, it provides for maintaining the State pension age at 66 years pending the report of the Pensions Commission. This fulfils a key commitment in the programme for Government.

Many Deputies raised the issue of pensions. In addition to repealing the increase in the pension age, I have also committed to change the requirement for those who retire from work at the age of 65 to sign on for a jobseeker's payment in order to receive a State income support. I will therefore shortly introduce regulations, and Deputies Sherlock and Kerrane raised this point, which will formally remove the current requirements for people of this age to sign on, participate in activation programmes or give an undertaking that they are genuinely seeking work. This will formalise an administrative practice which has been in place for some time. I hope to have that in place by the end of January. It will be a special payment for those aged 65. There will be no requirement to seek work. They will simply complete the application form. It does not involve signing on. It is nonsense to talk about having to stand in dole queues. That will not be happening. This payment will be paid for 12 months.

The pension age was mentioned also. Expenditure on State pensions amounts to approximately 40% of total expenditure by my Department. We spend approximately €8 billion a year on pensions. To put that into context, in 2020, approximately 28% of the Department's budget was spent on pensions so it has increased significantly over the past decade. The pension payment in Ireland compares very favourably with payment rates in other jurisdictions. The full contributory State pension here is €248 but like many other countries, Ireland is not immune to the challenges of an ageing population. The pensions issue does affect both young and old. I have stated clearly that the State pension is the bedrock of the pension system in Ireland but it is in everybody's interest, both young and old, that we make sure it is sustainable for the long term.

The Pensions Commission has been set up. It will come forward with recommendations that will take account of everybody's interests. Its members have a full workload ahead of them. They have already met twice, and possibly three times. They are doing a great deal of work and I thank them for the work they are doing. To be clear, I know the issue of pensions affects many women. Six out of the 11 members of the Pensions Commission are women and the chairperson is a woman. A few Deputies mentioned the Stop67 campaign and a number of others wanted to get on the Pensions Commission but their voices will be heard. They will be given the opportunity to put forward their ideas and suggestions and to consult with the Pensions Commission, whose members will talk to them about their views on it.

I am conscious of the need to maintain the sustainability of the State finances. However, that is not the only factor to be taken into account when considering the State pension age. As I said earlier, it is the bedrock of the system and it is extremely effective at reducing the risk of poverty for our pensioners. The Government is committed to ensuring that that remains the case. I believe I have covered all the questions on the pensions.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn raised the issue of the fishermen and their contribution to coastal communities and to the islands. We have the fish assist scheme, which is similar to farm assist.

Deputy Sherlock raised the issue of fraud. My Department, supported by An Garda Síochána, has reviewed 70,000 claims, with savings of approximately €94 million. The Deputy also mentioned PPS numbers. Two hundred extra staff are now working in that section issuing PPS numbers. I am aware there were some delays but staff had been redeployed to other areas. They are back working on that now and they are getting any backlog cleared as quickly as possible.

On the question of seasonal workers, I want to clarify an issue regarding the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP. If one goes back to work and for some unfortunate reason due to Covid one is laid off again, I wanted to make sure that one would be able to go back on the PUP, so we have extended it until the end of March. In case anybody is concerned that if they return to work and unfortunately are laid off, they can sign back on the PUP. It will remain open until the end of March.

The issue of paid parental leave was raised with me. All of us want to make life easier for young parents. I hope that the sharing of the maternity leave and the provision of paid parental leave for both parents will, in time, remove the unconscious bias against women, particularly those who may be pregnant when they look for another job. We know there is an unconscious bias. I honestly believe that equalising the parenting responsibility and the supports we provide to both parents will eventually remove that bias.

The issue of JobPath was raised. We are facing record unemployment levels as a result of the pandemic and it is not a time to be cutting employment support services of any kind. JobPath is just one part of this jigsaw. We are also expanding the capacity of other contracted employment services such as the local employment services, job clubs and the EmployAbility service and these contracts also are being extended into next year. I will be increasing the local employment services capacity by 50% from 20,000 to 30,000. I want to expand the community based contracted services into four new geographical areas. There will be an additional 100 job coaches next year. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is increasing investment in apprenticeship schemes.

There will be 35,000 new education and training places for the unemployed. I have made changes to the back to education and back to work allowance. I will increase the number of places on the community employment and Tús schemes by a further 3,000. These places will come on stream in 2021.

Regarding JobPath, some people refer to the organisations involved as private companies. One is an employee trust. Its employees, including Irish employees, are the owners of the company, so it is 100% owned by the employees. The other company that offers JobPath is owned by a farmers' co-operative. It is not a commercial enterprise but a co-operative. I know Deputy Kerrane raised this issue. The survey of jobseekers showed high levels of satisfaction with the JobPath service. These levels of satisfaction are similar to the level of satisfaction with the service delivered by my own Department, and are in the region of 80% or more.

Deputy O'Dea raised the issue of fuel allowance, as did Deputy Gannon and others. The cost to any household of any increase in carbon tax will vary depending on a number of factors, notably the energy efficiency of homes of fuel allowance recipients and the amount and type of fuel that they use. Last year, the ESRI indicated that the additional cost of the carbon tax would be less than the weekly net value of the fuel allowance increase for at least the three lowest income deciles, the very people at whom the fuel allowance is targeted. This finding is contained in its report, The Economic and Environmental Impacts of Increasing the Irish Carbon Tax. It is important, when talking about increases to the carbon tax and the impact on low income households, to say that the increases for those with child dependants and those living alone will significantly benefit those same people. There are many questions and I am happy to go through them.

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