Domna Michailidou: ‘We plan to deal with the overlap of benefits’

The Deputy Minister of Welfare and Social Solidarity, Mrs. Domna Michailidou, announces the rationalization of the provision of benefits through παράδειγμαfor example- the treatment of their overlaps by programs that run in parallel, speaking exclusively to “K”. Also, Mrs. Michailidou states that her goal is to strengthen the control mechanisms. Regarding the support package for socially vulnerable citizens due to the new wave of accuracy, recently announced by the Prime Minister, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Ms. Michailidou states that the beneficiaries will be the beneficiaries of the child allowance, who will receive an additional 1.5 installment in April. 680,000 low-income retirees, 35,000 uninsured seniors and 167,000 beneficiaries of disability benefits who will be supported with 200 euros, while a double installment of the minimum guaranteed income will be given to 240,000 beneficiaries.

Interview with Dimitris Katsaganis

As society gradually emerges from the pandemic and restrictive measures, what are the priorities of the Ministry of Labor in relation to the field of social benefits and social benefits in general?

Dear Mr. Katsaganis, in times of crisis the first victims are the vulnerable social groups. Our fellow citizens who can not do it alone and need the support of the State. That is why our government in 2021 proceeded to a brave increase in welfare benefits, which we deemed necessary. At the same time, however, social benefits should aim at empowering beneficiaries so that they can take life into their own hands. That is why from day one we have emphasized active social policies, which remain our top priorities.

Child protection has been high on our political agenda from the beginning. After all, it is no coincidence that Greece is the first European country to adopt the recommendation of the Council of Europe “Guarantee for the Child”. The National Center for Social Solidarity is currently preparing the National Action Plan for the fight against child poverty and social exclusion, so that every child grows up safely, none of his / her particularities stand in the way of his / her life, he / she has access to education. to eat healthily and adequately, to receive the necessary health care and treatment. As obvious as all this sounds, in the year 2022, 18 million children are in demand in Europe.

The deinstitutionalization of children is part of this framework of aspirations. I have said and I repeat that as a State and as a society we must not rest until the last child finds his own family. It is a goal that we can achieve! As early as the summer of 2020, 800 children have found a family. In the same context, with a delay of decades, we are finally establishing operating standards in child protection units. We seek the development of institutions into child support organizations within the family and not far from it.

Completing pre-school reform is also our immediate priority. With the program “Kypseli” we transform the structures of pre-school education from childcare areas to places of creative employment. Thus, in the kindergartens, the children will cultivate their skills, while at the same time we envisage the operation of a mechanism for early detection of learning and developmental disorders in order to intervene in a timely manner and to maximally improve the functionality of children. We also keep our promise that no child will be left out of daycare, giving funding every year to more mothers enrolling their children in daycare while remaining themselves in the job market.

At the core of our priorities is the active support of people with disabilities. Applications for the program of the Personal Assistant, an innovative institution for our country that will enable our disabled fellow citizens to implement their plans, to study, work and participate equally in social life, start in April. In addition, aiming at universal accessibility, we are starting with the resources of the Recovery Fund a program of building upgrading of houses, workplaces and public bodies in order to ensure the access of the buildings to people with disabilities.

What specific measures are being taken to protect the weakest from the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine?

The consequences of the war are already visible! We see them in the prices of fuel, electricity and basic necessities. It is our duty to protect the weakest and that is why the measures are targeted and not horizontal. The total expenditure reaches 1.1 billion euros and concerns 3.2 million of our fellow citizens. It includes a significant increase in the electricity subsidy for small and medium-sized households and businesses, a fuel subsidy for individuals and a reduction in the price of diesel. It also includes a special package of measures totaling 325 million euros, to support social groups that are more vulnerable to this international wave of precision due to vulnerability. Who are they; Low-income households, families with children, citizens with disabilities, uninsured elderly and low-income retirees. Beneficiaries will be the beneficiaries of the child allowance, who will receive an additional 1.5 installments in April. 680,000 low-income retirees, 35,000 uninsured seniors and 167,000 beneficiaries of disability benefits who will be supported with 200 euros, while a double installment of the minimum guaranteed income will be given to 240,000 beneficiaries.

The Pissaridis Commission’s report sets out a series of reforms in the field of social benefits. How do you see these proposals and which of them do you see mature in order to be included in the government plan of some future interventions?

The Pissaridis exhibition is a useful tool in our hands. It contains proposals for increasing employment, strengthening social cohesion and tackling bureaucracy, and helps shape our policies. Some of them have already been adopted. The electronic payments of the birth allowance of 2,000 euros that are given to every newborn from 2020 are already applied, while the proposal for the upgrade of the pre-school education, which we are currently implementing through the “Kypseli” program, is another of the proposals of the exhibition Pissaridis. A broader plan is also being made to streamline the provision of benefits, such as tackling benefit overlaps from programs running in parallel. In general, there are some constants in the exercise of politics, as we perceive it. To meet needs and create conditions for progress, to design interventions so that they have measurable results so that they can be evaluated and improved. Finally, to strengthen the control mechanisms.

The central goal of the government is the digitization of public services to the citizens. How is your field, and especially OPEC, involved in achieving this goal?

It is involved in a very important intervention, which concerns the consolidation of applications for a large part of social benefits, from the Minimum Guaranteed Income to the Birth Allowance and the Student Mortgage. Beneficiaries will submit a single application to a single digital portal, which will integrate the information systems of all individual benefits. This is a great reform against the bureaucracy! Citizens’ access to social benefits is simplified, citizens are informed in a timely and valid manner about the policies implemented and their rights, while at the same time automatic crossroads will save time, human resources and valuable resources.