Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to raise the issue of access to the Safe Pass for the unemployed. A man came to me recently who had been unemployed for a year and a half but who luckily got a job for nine months on a building site because he had his Safe Pass on the day of hiring. He is a qualified driver of one of the highest types of crane. The man, who has a wife and three children, wants to work. He got his nine months' work but since then has been unemployed for several months. He wants to go back to work but his Safe Pass has expired. He went to the Department of Social Protection to renew it and he understood the Department would fund that. However, this does not seem to be the case. He was told the Department would renew the pass when he returned on having got a job but, unfortunately, nobody in the construction industry will hire anyone who does not have a Safe Pass. The man has been toing and froing with his local welfare officers, etc., but is still in limbo. He cannot afford to renew the pass himself and the Department seems to be unwilling to do so.

Recently, the man was offered a job that is to commence in the near future. He went back to the Department of Social Protection and it wanted to know the day on which he would be starting so as to go about the task of renewal but he could not give the date. If he specified the date, he would lose his social welfare benefits from that date with no guarantee that the job would start then.

There is no guarantee about when the job will start. If it does not start, we all know what it is like when one must reapply for social welfare. One can wait anything from six to 12 weeks for a payment. To me the solution is blatantly obvious. I imagine I am speaking for many other people, but this man is positively looking for work. He has a possibility of work but he will not get the work unless he has a Safe Pass card but he will not get the card from the Department unless he has a job. Let us have a meeting of minds. The solution is very simple. Will somebody kick the bucket and renew his Safe Pass? If that was done, this man would be off the live register and would be able to provide for his wife and children, which would be good.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I hope I do not take too long to get to the point that is of interest to the Senator, but he knows what the replies are like.

The Department of Social Protection provides a wide range of activation supports for jobseekers, lone parents and people with disabilities. One of the Department's key objectives is to support jobseekers to improve their education and skills levels in order to help them meet the requirements of the labour market. The Department has estimated expenditure of €994 million on employment supports in 2013. Against a backdrop of significant fiscal consolidation, the Government has provided resources of over €1 billion on a similar range of supports in 2014.

The Pathways to Work programme includes the provision of opportunities, supports and assistance to jobseekers by intensifying the Department's level of engagement, in particular, those who are at risk of becoming long-term unemployed. The Intreo service delivery model offers practical, tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers and this new service model, which is more efficient in its delivery, is currently being rolled out across the country. Activation measures include the requirement to attend group or individual meetings, and-or avail of suitable education, training or development opportunities, or specified employment programmes, which are considered appropriate to a person's circumstances and which have been agreed with him or her as part of a personal progression plan.

My understanding is that all workers on construction sites and in ancillary service employments are required to hold a valid Safe Pass certification. The aim of the SOLAS Safe Pass health and safety awareness training programme is to ensure that, over time, that all workers in construction will have a basic knowledge of health and safety and be able to work on-site without being a risk to themselves or others who might be affected by their acts or omissions. From a health and safety perspective, construction workers are bound by law to hold a valid Safe Pass card. It is a matter for the contractor to ensure that workers are provided with access to the necessary training to achieve the certification. The construction industry has done much commendable work in the past number of years to improve safety on construction projects which I believe has reduced the level of serious injury and deaths.

It is not the function of the Department to fund the provision of Safe Pass training and I consider that the responsibility resides with the employer. The Department is conscious, however, of the barriers posed by a lack of a pass or having lapsed Safe Pass certification for a jobseeker wishing to get back to work. To that end, the Department provides funding to the jobseeker under the technical employment support grant. The jobseeker must have registered with the Department's employment services and undertaken a guidance process leading to an agreed personal progression plan. The jobseeker must also be in receipt of certain specified welfare payments, such as a jobseeker's allowance, lone parent payments or payments related to disability and long-term illness benefits. In the past three years, approximately €778,000 has been provided to some 8,332 jobseekers nationally under the scheme.

TESG is designed to support a person to overcome identified barriers in progressing from unemployment to employment. Training, with limited exceptions, must be on certified courses. TESG can be used to meet the full costs of courses including Safe Pass certification. A jobseeker can access a maximum of €500 from the scheme per annum. Any decision to grant aid a particular intervention is also subject to the eligibility requirements of the scheme and available funds.

Before approving a grant of this nature the Department will generally require proof that there is a clear identifiable employment opportunity. The Department also requires further information to ensure that the application is consistent with the prior employment history of the jobseeker and that an opportunity is likely to arise should a given course of training be approved.

The Department's services and supports are continually monitored and kept under review by management. Account is taken of the views of staff, public representatives and users of the service to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources with a view to providing an efficient service. The Department is very conscious of the need to provide efficient and effective customer facing services at a local level for clients of the Department. However, I take on board the points made by the Senator and I assure him that I will raise the points at issue with the Minister who, unfortunately, could not attend this evening.

Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate that the Minister could not attend and I know that she is a very busy lady. I should have specified at the outset that the man to whom I refer applied under the TESG scheme. However, he was told that in order to qualify for the scheme his possible employer must provide a commencement date and from that date, whether the job went ahead or not, he would be knocked off his social welfare payment. That seems to be the kernel of the problem. I would like a manager in the Department of Social Protection to say "Okay, you will qualify to get your Safe Pass certified." The man needs somebody to put it in writing that the employer will possibly have a job for him in the near future. One can get that confirmation from a possible employer, but the fact that the man will be knocked off his social welfare from that date, whether the job goes ahead or not, is a bit archaic. I reiterate that this man wants to work. I will try to contact the Department myself with the information supplied by the Minister of State and I appreciate the comprehensive reply.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I will make sure that the concerns raised by the Senator are passed to the appropriate authority. I see the difficulty with having to have the date of employment when one does not know it but that there is a possibility of employment. We have all been in that position. I also understand that when the date is given, whether the promise of employment comes to fruition or not, that person could find themselves without an income. I will definitely convey those points.