John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 526: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the fact that most recent figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the south east region has one of the lowest rates of household disposable income and one of the highest rates of long-term unemployment; the measures she proposes to remedy this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26637/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department provides a range of supports to assist unemployed people, particularly the long-term unemployed, lone parents, and sickness related welfare recipients to return to the active labour market either by taking up employment or becoming self-employed.

The main welfare to work measure for the unemployed is the National Employment Action Plan (EAP). Under the EAP, people who are approaching 3 months on the Live Register are identified by the department and referred to FÁS for interview with a view to job placement or an offer of training.

Other supports include the operation of the back to education and back to work allowance schemes, the technical assistance and training grants and the PRSI exemption scheme. The activation and family services programme and the second chance education opportunities scheme also offer supports to social welfare recipients and disadvantaged persons to assist them to improve their employability and personal and family situations.

At present a network of 40 facilitators work closely at local level with social welfare recipients, including those on the live register. There are six facilitators serving the south east region at present. These officers, located in counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Kildare and Wicklow, work directly with those on Social Welfare in order to determine their needs. They arrange, through direct provision or jointly with other agencies, appropriate training and developmental programmes to equip them to progress to employment, enhance their parenting skills or improve their life opportunities. It is proposed to enhance the service in the south east region with the assignment of additional facilitators, as part of a wider activation programme provided for under the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013.

The enhanced facilitation service will build on the Department's existing experience and income maintenance relationship with the people concerned, in co-operation with other relevant service providers such as FÁS, VECs, HSE and other local agencies.

The National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 includes a commitment to maintain the relative value of the lowest social welfare rate at least at €185.80, in 2007 terms, over the course of the Plan, subject to available resources. This commitment is reiterated in the Agreed Programme for Government.

The value of the lowest rate of welfare payment was fully maintained in Budget 2008 and now stands at €197.80 per week following an increase of €12 per week or over 6%. In the last six Budgets, the value of the lowest rate of payment has increased by a cumulative €79 per week or 67%.

By any standards, the levels of increases in welfare payments generally over the period since 2002 have been exceptional and are a demonstration of our continuing commitment to all those who are less well off.