Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. He will find the Department of Social Protection a very interesting Department. In his opening contribution, he said he was interested in people's suggestions. His budget is about €20 billion, and about €35 billion has been spent so far based on the suggestions made here. Social welfare payment rates have been quite static due to the recession. It was always the intention to reinstate the Christmas bonus in 2016, and I hope finances will allow that to happen.

One interesting area is that of community employment schemes. They suffered badly during the recession as there was not enough money to make the necessary contributions. If there is an opportunity to do so within the finance available, the materials and training budgets need to be examined to determine whether there is some flexibility, because community employment schemes provide significant benefits in terms of getting people back into work.

I ask the Minister to examine the community employment pilot scheme for those aged over 60. Very often, people involved in community employment schemes have not had an opportunity to get back into employment. Those aged over 60 are contributing fully to their communities and want to go out to work and participate. The scheme has major benefits in terms of mental health and the local community.

Some Members mentioned JobsPlus. It has worked really well, but needs to be kept under constant review to make sure it is not being exploited by employers that may try to roll over the scheme. Up to now, the data I received indicated that that was not happening, but the situation needs to be monitored constantly.

Those aged over 50 and 60 are finding it very difficult to get back to work. A person is aged over 50 or 55 was probably 42 years of age coming into the recession and is finding it very difficult to get back into employment. Will the Minister ask his officials to consider the feasibility of a JobsPlus scheme for people in their latter years who want to get back into employment? Very often, employers are not prepared to consider people aged in their 50s and give them an opportunity to get back into employment. Can employers be encouraged to consider that possibility? Manual labourers, electricians and construction workers are not the only ones affected. Many people in managerial roles find it very difficult to get back into employment after a period of unemployment, especially when one is aged 50 years or older. There is a lot of bias in employment, such as young managers in their 30s not bringing in people aged 50 or older who have much more experience. We need to work on breaking down those barriers and make sure that people can participate in what we call the recovery and the reduction in unemployment.

I want to make a couple of suggestions that are not costly, because everybody will have a long list of requests that will cost a fortune. I am conscious of the role of the Minister, and there are always demands on him. The Minister mentioned that the personal micro-credit scheme would go nationwide. It is an anti-poverty strategy at cost of about €100 million. The 360,000 customers of moneylenders are paying interest rates of approximately 190%. A comparatively small pilot scheme was in operation and its results have been very beneficial. The Central Bank has fears about the expansion of the micro-credit scheme, which operates through credit unions and has support of the Social Finance Foundation, but we can alleviate those concerns. The statistics on the success of the pilot scheme are that 94% of all loans are repaid, and there have been other positive effects. There is a major fear that the scheme will only be open to those in receipt of social welfare. Many people on low incomes are pushed into borrowing from legal moneylenders that charge exorbitant interest rates. The Minister would do very well if part of his crusade was to put licensed moneylenders out of business. It would make a substantial contribution to relieving poverty for low-income families and those in receipt of social welfare. The micro-credit model offers such a possibility.

Another area that I ask the Minister to examine is standard bank accounts. Many Senators stand up and say they want to save the rural post office system. Standard bank accounts offer great opportunities in terms of operating with An Post to bring additional business to post office services. The real gain for a lot of people who are not financially literate and have no bank account is that they would be able to access lower-cost utility services. Those without bank accounts are mainly low-paid workers and those in receipt of social welfare. They can save approximately €240 on their utility bills if they have standard bank accounts and can set up standing orders through the service. When one is on a low income, €5 or €10 a week is a substantial amount of money.

Quite an amount of work needs to be done in regard to standard bank accounts. There was a commitment in the troika bailout programme regarding banks and that their financing of standard bank accounts. They financed a pilot scheme, but quickly said it did not work and withdrew it. There is a moral obligation, as well as an agreement with the Government, for standard bank accounts to be funded from the banking sector. A comparatively small amount of money is involved. I understand the Minister currently contributes €56 million to An Post for the payment of social welfare payments, and rightly so. That puts money into every post office as well as into many communities across the country.

I will finish by referring to the bogus self-employed, who cause a loss of PRSI income for the Department of Social Protection. An interdepartmental working group, comprising representatives from the Departments of Finance and Social protection, examined this issue.I am speaking about people who want employment but are forced down the self-employment route. They lose holidays and they do not pay PRSI, so they do not have an opportunity to claim benefits when they lose their jobs. They are forced into what I call bogus self-employment. This does not just happen on building sites; it is now happening in the IT sector, in the media and right across a whole band of areas. The Department of Social Protection is losing a considerable amount of money because of it. Submissions to that group closed in March. Will the Minister have a look at where the submissions and the report are? The area of bogus self-employment needs to be closed off.

The Minister will face major challenges with regard to pensions because of the changes in the age profile in this State. Will the Minister have a look-----