Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme Payments

Questions (38, 68)

Willie O'Dea

Question:

38. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to increase the back to school clothing and footwear allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25709/17]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

68. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to assist families with increasing back to school costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25933/17]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 68 together.

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The allowance is not intended to meet the full cost of school clothing and footwear but to provide assistance to parents towards these costs.

The Government has provided €37.4 million for the scheme in 2017 which will operate from June to September. The allowance will be paid week commencing 10 July to allow parents sufficient time to prepare for back to school. Similar to arrangements in previous years, the majority of payments under this scheme will be paid with no application form required. Customers who do not receive notification of an automated payment over the next few weeks should make a written application to my Department.

The income limits for the scheme are being increased for 2017 and will ensure that the increases in social welfare payment rates introduced by Budget 2017 do not negatively impact on people’s entitlement to the allowance.

The payment rates are €100 for eligible children aged 4 to 11 years and €200 for children aged over 12 years and attending secondary school. Any changes to these rates would have to be considered in a budgetary context and within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.

Members of the house may be aware that my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, has recently published a new circular on the measures to be adopted by schools to reduce the cost of school uniforms and other costs, as part of a range of measures to take greater account of the needs of parents and students in the school system.

I trust this clarifies the arrangements in place.

Social Welfare Fraud

Questions (39)

Mick Wallace

Question:

39. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Social Protection the details of research carried out by his Department into the savings expected to be made as a result of the current welfare fraud campaign; if, in view of the fact that only 21% of identified overpayments made by his Department in 2015 were actually fraudulent as opposed to claims and payments made in error and that in the past four years overpayments due to error on the part of claimants and departmental staff have cost more than fraud, his views on whether his campaign should focus more on reducing errors on the part of both the claimant and departmental staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25937/17]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I would like thank the Deputy for raising this important issue.

Total overpayments raised by my Department in 2016 amounted to €110 million. Of this, customer fraud amounted to €41 million. Cases of this nature arise where a customer intentionally provides incomplete or inaccurate information in order to receive benefits or deliberately fails to inform the Department of relevant changes in their circumstances.

While the €41m is €5 million lower than the previous year and this is welcome, overall, I consider it to be unacceptable. I believe that any amount of fraud in the social welfare system is wrong and we must do everything we can to prevent it.

While overpayments as a result of claimants making mistakes amounted to the higher figure of €46 million last year, the Deputy will appreciate that some level of customer error can be expected in a system that processes 82 million payments every year and pays out €19.2 billion across 70 schemes. In addition, it should be noted that some €20m was overpaid in what are known as estate cases which relate to pensioners who were receiving a State Pension Non-Contributory where, after their death, some level of overpayment of entitlement was judged to have arisen. Overpayments from staff and administrative errors were recorded at €2.3m in 2016.

My Department is constantly improving systems and processes to minimise the risk of fraud and error and to allow claimants bring new and relevant information to our attention in a timely manner.

The recent fraud campaign will cost in the region of €206,000 when all costs are paid. Already, some 1,300 additional reports of fraud have been received over and above the same period last year. My officials have now started to examine these reports and they will be referred to the appropriate scheme area for follow-up action, where this is found to be warranted, in light of the information provided.

I agree with the Deputy that we should maintain the focus on reducing errors, but not to the exclusion of those who deliberately set out to defraud the social welfare system.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Question No. 40 answered with Question No. 35.

Labour Activation Programmes

Questions (41, 46, 94)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

41. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to allow the Tús scheme and the community employment schemes to retain current participants even if their term is complete (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25712/17]

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Robert Troy

Question:

46. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to ensure the community employment scheme remains operational within the communities it serves; and his views on the pivotal social good they provide and that they are not simply labour activation schemes. [25892/17]

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Charlie McConalogue

Question:

94. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of his Department's plans for the Tús scheme and the community employment schemes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25713/17]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 41, 46 and 94 together.

Community Employment (CE) and Tús are active labour market programmes with the emphasis on progression into employment and/or further education and training. Participation limits on these schemes are necessary to allow for the utilisation of places amongst qualifying persons to ensure the benefits of these schemes are available to the widest possible number of jobseekers. It is important to note that these placements are not full-time sustainable jobs. Instead, they are designed to break the cycle of unemployment and maintain work readiness, thereby improving a person’s opportunities of returning to the open labour market.

The Deputies will appreciate that the welcome increase in the number of people at work and the continued reduction in Live Register numbers is a factor in recruitment to all work programmes in recent times. If any scheme is experiencing particular difficulties filling vacancies, they should contact their local DSP Intreo office for assistance.

I recently got Government approval for a number of changes to the CE scheme which will assist in broadening the availability of CE to a greater number of people on the live register and will also standardise other conditions around the length of time a person can participate on the programme. My officials are currently meeting with sponsors throughout the country to discuss the various changes to be implemented. In this context, it should be noted that I am not planning to change the current participation limit of one year on the Tús scheme.

I would like to reiterate that the Government strongly supports the work being done through these schemes and I have seen first-hand myself, over recent months, the vital role such schemes are playing in local communities, including supporting social services, across the entire country.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.

Community Employment Schemes Administration

Questions (42)

John Curran

Question:

42. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to make changes to community employment schemes; the expected start date for these changes to come into operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25939/17]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

In the context of the falling Live Register and the continuing economic recovery, my Department undertook a review of the work programmes. The outcome of the review made various recommendations in relation to how work programmes, including Community Employment (CE) operate, as well as the overall number of places available. In this context, I have decided to progress some changes to the CE programme which will introduce clearer terms and conditions for entry to the programme and will also widen the range of people who can take part in CE schemes.

The changes I am introducing will see the general qualifying age for CE, for those on the live register, reduced from 25 to 21 years. It will also be easier for previous participants, who have exhausted their CE entitlement, to requalify as participation prior to the year 2007 will be disregarded. While participants between 21 and 55 years will be entitled to one year on the programme, this can be extended by up to 2 more years if they are engaged in a recognised training or education award that is helping them progress towards employment. All CE participants age 55 and over will be able to avail of 3 consecutive years on a CE. There will be an overall limit of 6 years from 2007 (or 7 years if on a disability payment).

I have also signalled my intention to review the rules governing the participation of older people on schemes. This review will take place within the next 3 months.

As part of the implementation of the new measures, my Department is currently consulting with key stakeholders and I expect that the implementation of the new arrangements will commence from mid-June onwards.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Departmental Information

Questions (43)

Joan Collins

Question:

43. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to launch information campaigns advising persons of payment pending wages or the fast tracking system for persons that sign off to take up employment or training for a short period, that is, up to 12 weeks, or family income supplement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25973/17]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The Department of Social Protection serves a wide and diverse group of customers including families, people in employment, unemployed people, people with illnesses and disabilities, carers and older people. In more recent times, my Department has expanded its remit to provide a range of services to employers.

My Department is continuously engaging with this broad customer base to increase public awareness of its schemes and services. With this in mind, a dedicated Communications and Customer Services Unit was established within my Department whose role is to ensure information about the Department is directed appropriately to the various customer groups in an effective manner, so they can access assistance from the Department when and if required.

Since last September, a series of advertising campaigns have been undertaken including; paternity benefit, the launch of MyGovID, the extension of the treatment benefits scheme to the self-employed and most recently a campaign to raise awareness about social welfare fraud.

Advertising campaigns represent just one of the many ways in which my Department provides information to customers; engagement with formal customer representative groups, presentations at customer conferences and events, website updates, social media and participation in our jobseekers programmes are all part of the communication mix.

When planning advertising campaigns, particular focus is given where changes to schemes arise - as was the case in treatment benefits being extended to the self-employed in March this year - or where a new scheme is launched, such as paternity benefit in September 2016. However, all Department services and functions will be considered in the context of further promotional work undertaken.

Social Welfare Overpayments

Questions (44)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

44. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will review the circumstances in which persons are deemed to have inadvertently received a payment to which they may not have an entitlement and that subsequently have to repay sums, including lump sums, to an extent that may exacerbate their vulnerability especially those dependent on rent support derived from being on local authority housing lists and that may find themselves homeless; if his Department has the technology to be able to identify potential overpayments at an earlier stage thereby eliminating hardship to vulnerable families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25970/17]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Overpayments of entitlement are a feature of all social protection and assistance systems. This reflects the dynamic nature of the changing eligibility and entitlements of persons in receipt of payments. Significant information system developments, including the sharing of information between agencies, have been implemented in recent years to enhance the timeliness and quality of information available to officials.

Overpayments of benefit and assistance payments can arise as a result of fraud, errors by the claimant, errors by staff and during the settlement of a claimant’s estate following their death.

In all circumstances where an overpayment is assessed by my Department, the person concerned is afforded an opportunity to seek to have the underlying decision reviewed and independently assessed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office by way of appeal.

Where recovery of an overpayment is being sought or pursued, my Department engages with the person concerned and takes into account his/her circumstances. An agreed repayment plan can be put in place that will ensure that the risk of financial hardship is lessened. As the Deputy will appreciate, it is very much in the person’s interest that they engage with my officials to manage the repayment arrangements.

Most overpayments are recovered by way of instalments paid over a period of years. While lump sums can be paid, this would only arise where a person offered to do so. It is not the Department’s intention to make deductions that are likely to visit hardship. Even where a person does not co-operate, the level of payment cannot go below 85% of the person rate of payment with no impact on any increases for dependant adults or children.

My Department has a duty not to pay any person beyond their lawful entitlement and, in this context, my officials are required to protect public funds. Insofar as is possible, they must ensure that any sums paid in excess of a legal entitlement are returned to my Department.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.