Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has dismissed suggestions she is a maverick or not a "team player" in the Government but accepts she is forceful in manner when defending the interests of her department and the people it represents. There has been a recurring focus on Ms Burton's relationships with Cabinet colleagues, particularly Labour Ministers, since the formation of the Government. Some of her colleagues have privately criticised her for pursuing her own agenda.
Last year Labour Party officials organised a special photocall for Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Burton, who is Labour deputy leader, at its annual parliamentary party think-in in an effort to show that, contrary to reports of a rift, they had a strong working relationship.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Burton strongly defends her approach and responds to suggestions that she is a maverick.
“All I can say to that is that I was the recipient of praise and congratulations [from the Cabinet] in getting people back to work. I would not deny that I am forceful and passionate about things I believe in and would not be behind the door in putting forward things I believe in. I operate in a polite way and that’s an important skill.”
Outlining her approach, she says: “I travel around the country a lot and talk to people around the country. We have a problem with poverty in this country. Social welfare is terribly important to people in the country. Pensions are enormously important to people in terms of giving a decent life. I feel passionate about those issues and passionate abut getting people back to work.”
Asked about reports of conflict, she says: “Do I state [my views] quite forcefully? I do. I don’t apologise for that. I think I represent a lot of people who rely on social welfare income and put their case forward. The living wage and minimum wage are quite important in this context.
“The Taoiseach and I have done six public events together in terms of getting people back to work. We launched Intreo offices [one-stop shops where unemployed people can get social welfare payments but also advice on upskilling, training and job opportunities] and have met officials around the country.
"You have to look from where Ireland had been coming [before the economic crisis]. There were people who never expected to find themselves in a social welfare office but were there through no fault of their own. It's economic recovery for everybody in the economy that I want to see and not just for rich people."
Burton also confirms that child benefit is going to remain at the same level in next year’s budget. That, she says, is a dividend from the recent reductions in the number of unemployed people in the State.
The reduction has also given her some space to focus on what she considers a major issue, the high proportion of households in Ireland where no adult is working.It was high even during the boom and has risen further – from 15 per cent at the height of the boom to 22 per cent by 2012, twice the European average.
The solution, she suggests, lies in making a step change in the social welfare system, from being a passive institution paying welfare each week to being an organisation focused on job activation and getting people to train, get further education, learn new skills, and get work.
“All the international and national research shows that in jobless households, the outcomes can be very poor for future employability . . . It went up to 22 per cent during the crisis. If you think of those households and the number of children in them where no adult has significant employment, on a policy level it is not good.”
Burton notes that notwithstanding cutbacks in other areas, she has increased the budget for family income supplement in recent years and will continue to do so in 2014. The supplement is the weekly tax-free top-up payment for workers on low pay with children. She has argued that the supplement allows families to stay in work and build a better financial future for themselves.
One change in the social welfare system is that the private and non-State sectors are to become involved in job-activation for the first time. This was one of the conditionalities set down by the troika and the department sought tenders on December 13th, the last working day of the international bailout.
Such initiatives are a feature in other EU countries, with contracted companies getting payments for each person for whom they find employment. However, the results have been mixed and in Britain the system has been controversial.
Burton says her department held meetings with potential interested parties in the private and voluntary services, including local employment services. She adds that some demonstration models would be under way within a relatively short period. "I want to do this in a way that is appropriate for Ireland and Irish society. I have read a number of reports of the UK model. I have found more positive outcomes in Sweden [where it is more tied in to local employment services]."
The Minister adds: “In the department we are turning around from being passive to being an active public employment service. I have looked at the system in Sweden and have found their model particularly interesting. It’s based on fairly intensive intervention with the person who is unemployed from the time they sign on.”
