This year is my second as Minister for Social Protection and for Rural and Community Development. It was also my first and probably last budget as Minister for Justice, and I look forward to welcoming the Minister, Deputy McEntee, back in November. If I have time, I will touch on the progress we have made across those three Departments. This year represented the largest social welfare package in any budget for the past 14 years. That we could introduce a package of this scale on the back of over €9 billion being pa…

I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 187, it be an instruction to the Select Committee on Justice on the Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Bill 2021, that it has the power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing provisions of the Bill, in relation to amendments to sections 3, 26, 122, 123 and Schedule 5 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, for the purpose of creating regulation-making powers for the Minister in order to make provision for a drug testing regime of mem…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. My Department is at an advanced stage in its first phase of the two-phase procurement for regionally based employment services. The procurement has two key goals. First, it will see a significant expansion across the State of employment services for those furthest from the labour market. The regional employment services will have a strong focus on local and community linkages and will help to address the post Covid-19 employment challenge. Second, the procurement process w…

The Deputy will agree that I recognise the good work being carried out by our LES providers throughout the country. I take this opportunity to assure the Deputy, and to put on record, that the Government recognises the great work being carried out by many of our LES providers. They do great work in helping people with career guidance, CVs, interview preparation, upskilling and training supports. I see that in my county too. The reality is, however, that the Government has to follow the legal advice it is given. The…

As we know, the current cost-met model is cumbersome and involves a lot of administration for everybody, both for LES providers and the Department. It is an out-of-date model and it means significant time and effort is spent submitting evidence for all itemised expenditure. We want to ensure the time is better spent dealing with people who need our help and working with those people who need our support to help them find a job. That is what we have to focus on. The purpose of all this is to help the people who need…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Within three weeks of the PUP being launched, more than 500,000 people were in payment. In the initial two months to the end of April, my Department processed some 900,000 claims. The delivery of the scheme on such a scale and in such a short time represented a major achievement by my Department. The recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General found that approximately 9.4% of claims awarded at different points in time during 2020 did not comply with the strict con…

I thank the Deputy. As part of the claims approval process, claims were checked to ensure the claimant had a valid personal public service, PPS, number and other identity details. Checks were carried out whenever applications were submitted. In 2020, over 52,000 reviews were carried out by the Department's special investigation unit, with over 17,000 claims closed, while a further 19,400 reviews were carried out by other departmental staff, with approximately 5,800 claims closed. Claimants were asked to confirm the…

I thank the Deputy for his kind words about the Department. Everybody in this House agrees that the Department did a Trojan job to get those payments out so quickly and efficiently. Almost €9 billion has been paid out and over 27 million payments have issued. That support is unprecedented. It was an emergency payment at a time of national crisis. If we find people who knowingly abused the PUP, we will apply the full rigours of the law against them. The media have reported on a number of cases in which the Garda has…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Of course, the death of a child is a tragedy and the difficulties that parents and families experience as a result cannot be overstated. Within the social welfare system, there are a number of supports for people who suffer a bereavement. In particular, there is an arrangement known as the six weeks' payment after death, which allows for certain payments to continue to be made after a person dies. If a person is in receipt of a primary social welfare payment that includes…

I wanted to outline a number of existing reports in my initial reply, but I take on board the points the Deputy is making. She is talking about a different and new type of payment. I will look at the issue because there is merit in what the Deputy is saying. Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a person. The heartbreak is unimaginable. People in those circumstances need time to grieve. Three days is in no way sufficient. I would like to think that the vast majority of employers would show compassion…

I thank the Deputy. There is certainly merit in what she is saying. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to lose a child deserves support at that time. Three days is a very short time in which to deal with such awful grief. Off the top of my head, I believe there may be a payment for bereaved parents in the UK. Under that system, the employer covers the cost of the leave. I believe the Deputy is suggesting that the State should cover the cost of this leave. Legislation in respect of employment law falls under the remit…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The fuel allowance is a payment of €28 per week for 28 weeks, from October to April, representing a total payment of €784 each year. It is paid to 370,000 low-income households at an estimated cost of €300 million in 2021. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household and is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household.…

It is important to say that we are already doing a lot to help people with their fuel costs. The fuel allowance payment is €28 per week and this will cost €300 million in 2021. Some 370,000 low-income households were able to benefit from that. The household benefits package, which consists of a set of allowances to help with the costs of running a household, includes allowances towards covering the costs of electricity or gas. Approximately 470,000 recipients are paid €35 per month at a total cost of €195 million i…

The principle behind this is that people on long-term payments are unlikely to have additional resources of their own and are more vulnerable to poverty, including energy poverty. That is why we target people on longer-term payments. The payments the Deputy has mentioned are short-term payments. We take the view that we should help those who are more vulnerable to poverty. The best approach in the long term is to make sure homes are warmer and to invest in energy efficiency. The Government is committed to supportin…

The Government is committed to helping vulnerable households manage their energy costs through a combination of special energy related payments made by my Department and investment programmes within the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. My Department currently provides a range of schemes to assist low income households with energy costs. These payments include regular payments such as fuel allowance and additional discretionary payments made under th…

As I said, anybody who struggles with heating costs is entitled to make an application for a payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. I encourage people to contact their local Intreo centre. Once they meet the eligibility criteria, they will be provided with additional financial support. A helpline is available at 0818 800024, and people can get support from that. It is important that we consider energy efficiency in homes. One of the best ways to tackle fuel poverty in the long term is to address …

The important thing to say about the supplementary welfare allowance is that it is demand-led. There are no limits on it. If people qualify under the criteria set out, they will get their payments. The exceptional needs payments scheme is also, as the Deputy knows, demand-led. As a result, the level of expenditure of the schemes changes over time. I am saying very clearly that people who have a problem paying their bills and are in difficulty should go to an Intreo office and submit an application under the supplem…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he will be aware, this country faced an unprecedented shock to the labour market as a result of the pandemic. Under pathways to work, the Government's new employment services strategy which was launched last July, my Department has put in place a wide range of measures to assist those who are out of work in finding new jobs. Pathways to work sets out 83 commitments on a whole-of-government basis. The strategy is in the early stages of implementation, with progress expec…

As the Deputy said, people are getting back to work more quickly than we expected. A few months ago the projections were telling us that we would still have well over 100,000 on the PUP at the end of the year. In fact, we will now fall below the 100,000 mark next week, which will be significant and a important milestone. Some 500,000 people have come off the PUP since the peak. It is our plan in the Department of Social Protection to have job fairs - we had them in the past - at which we will link people who are lo…

I do not have those figures to hand, but the biggest number of those who remain on the PUP are in the hospitality sector. Also, the last time I looked there were approximately 10,000 from the construction sector, which is quite a lot when you think about it. As I understand it, however, what the construction sector is looking for is higher skilled workers, and those on the PUP are probably the lower skilled workers or general labourers. This is what pathways to work is about. It is about upskilling and reskilling p…