Written Answers Nos. 407-420
407. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on a disability allowance application (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42209/23]
View answerDisability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions.
I can confirm that the Department received an application for DA from the person concerned on 18 April 2023. However, the person concerned was not eligible for receipt of DA until their 16th birthday.
The person concerned was awarded DA with effect from 19 July 2023 and the first payment was made by their chosen payment method on 30 August 2023. Arrears of payment due from 19 July 2023 to 29 August 2023 were also issued to the person concerned.
The person concerned was notified of this decision in writing on 9 August 2023.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
408. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will be made on a review for disability allowance for a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42215/23]
View answerMy Department has not received an application for Disability Allowance from the person in question.
However, an application for Invalidity Pension (IP) was received from the person concerned on 29 May 2023. Based on the information supplied with this application, they were deemed not medically eligible, in line with the conditions for IP. They were not considered to be permanently incapable of work and notified of this decision on 1 August 2023.
On 17 August 2023, the person concerned requested a review of this decision and supplied additional medical evidence. This review was completed and the person concerned was awarded IP with effect from 1 June 2023. They will receive the first payment to their nominated bank account on 12 October 2023. Any arrears due from 1 June 2023 to 11 October 2023 will issue shortly thereafter. The person concerned was notified of this decision on 22 September 2023.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
409. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if the working family payment will be approved immediately for a person (details supplied). [42220/23]
View answerWorking Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment, the person must be working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight in ongoing insurable employment and have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them.
An application for WFP was received from the person concerned on 14th September 2023. A deciding officer has reviewed the application and requested further information. When the requested information is received, a deciding officer will be in a position to determine entitlement to WFP and advise the person concerned of their decision.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
410. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of increasing all illness and injury payment benefits to €300 per week, excluding disability-related payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42233/23]
View answerThe estimated full year cost of increasing short term Illness and Injury schemes to a €300 weekly payment is €231.2 million. This includes estimated costs for Illness Benefit of €225.2 million, Incapacity Supplement of €3.6 million and Injury Benefit of €2.4 million. It does not include any cost for longer term Illness schemes such as Invalidity Pension and Disability Allowance.
It should be noted that this cost is subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2024.
411. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection if, given the continued cost of energy, she will examine increasing the capital thresholds for eligibility for fuel allowance for persons aged over 65, in particular for property held in Ireland and abroad where no income is being generated (i.e., a modest holiday home); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42259/23]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €412 million in 2023. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.
The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. This ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment is targeted at those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.
As part of the overall welfare Budget 2023 package of €2.2 Billion, a number of considerable reforms were made to the Fuel Allowance Scheme including the introduction of changes for those aged over 70.
These reforms included a new means threshold for those aged over 70 of €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. The means threshold is based on gross income. In addition, for people aged 70 or over, the amount of capital (savings and investments) that is disregarded in the means test for Fuel Allowance was increase from €20,000 to €50,000. Savings over €50,000 are assessed on a proportionate basis only.
The weekly means threshold for those aged under 70 was also increased by €80 to €200 above the appropriate rate of State Pension (Contributory).
Any decision to further increase the fuel Allowance allowable means or the capital disregard would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.
Finally, my Department provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
412. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has considered extending the free travel scheme to include people with epilepsy, as advocated for by an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42277/23]
View answerThe Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2023 is €95 million.
It is important to note that, in general, access to a free travel pass for those aged under 66 is a secondary benefit linked to a person being in receipt of certain primary Social Protection payments such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Partial Capacity Benefit. As many illnesses or physical conditions have an impact ranging from mild to severe, entitlement to these social welfare schemes is not provided on the basis of a diagnosis but on the basis of the impact of that diagnosis on the individual concerned and in the case of Disability and Carer's Allowance to an assessment of their means. In this way, resources can be targeted to those most in need.
I am aware of an ongoing campaign by Epilepsy Ireland. I fully recognise the issues and difficulties that can arise due to a person being diagnosed with epilepsy and who is unable to drive as a result of their condition.
I have met with representatives of Epilepsy Ireland to discuss its proposal in detail and, following the meeting, I asked my Department officials to examine the issues raised in relation to access to the Free Travel scheme.
However, as the Deputy is aware, any change in the qualifying criteria would have to be considered in the context of budgetary negotiations.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.
413. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection when a review of the State pension will be completed in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42287/23]
View answerThe person concerned reached pension age on 4 April 2023. An application for State Pension (contributory) was received on 30 December 2022.
According to the records of my Department, the person concerned has a total of 892 reckonable paid and credited social insurance contributions giving a yearly average of19 contributions. This gave entitlement to State Pension (contributory) at a current weekly rate of €172.90 per week.
A decision letter issued on 23 March 2023 which included a copy of the social insurance record on which the decision was based. The person concerned was afforded the right of review and/or appeal.
A request for review was received on 30 August 2023. Following a review of their record, no additional contributions were awarded and this resulted in no change to the rate paid. The person concerned was notified in writing on 26 September 2023.
I hope this clarifies the position.
414. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Social Protection if she proposes to make changes to the disability allowance scheme; if the introduction of a tier-based system is under consideration; her views on whether such a tier-based system could be considered discriminatory; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42330/23]
View answerLast week, I published a Green Paper on Disability Reform and launched the associated public consultation.
The Green Paper on Disability Reform was developed as a response to commitments under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion, the Pathways to Work Strategy and the Make Work Pay Report and taking account of the Cost of Disability Report.
I would like to emphasise that this Green Paper is not a final design. It is a proposal on what the future of long-term disability payments could look like. It doesn’t claim to be the best way or the only way to change the structure of our payments. However, I believe that the proposals in the Green Paper are a good starting point for a structured discussion. I launched a public consultation on 20 September that will last until 15 December 2023.
The main proposal of the Green Paper is to move to a three-tiered Personal Support Payment, rather than the one-size-fits-all payments we currently have. This would amalgamate the current system of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, and Blind Pension into one payment with contributory and non-contributory streams.
As you know, people with disabilities in Ireland face a higher risk of poverty and have lower employment rates than other EU countries. The tiered proposal in the Green Paper attempts to address these twin challenges. We must insulate disabled people who cannot work from poverty. For disabled people who wish to work, we need more targeted employment supports.
I want to assure the Deputy that the intention is to try and simplify and make the social welfare system work better for people with disabilities. There are no proposals to reduce anybody's payment. Rather the proposals in the green paper are about providing additional support to those who need it most.
I have already met with the various disability organisations to brief them on the Green Paper and I want to work with them to ensure we get a strong response to this public consultation.
Full details on how to make a submission as part of the public consultation are available at www.gov.ie/DisabilityPaymentsReport. I would like to invite you to encourage people with disabilities, their families and organisations for people with disabilities in your constituency to express their views on these proposals as part of the public consultation process.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
415. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of data breaches experienced by her Department in each of the past ten years and to date in 2023. [42373/23]
View answerMy Department identified the following number of data breaches in each of the years since 2016 and to date in 2023. No records are available for the period before 2016.
Year Number of data breaches
2016 57
2017 108
2018 226
2019 371
2020 508
2021 646
2022 502
2023 to date 482
The vast majority of the confirmed data breaches relate to incidents where customer information was accidentally and inadvertently disclosed to third parties, e.g. misaddressed correspondence by email or post. In each of these incidents, the Department followed procedures in accordance with data protection legislation and every effort was made to secure data as quickly and efficiently as possible.
My Department takes data protection obligations very seriously. In order to protect the personal data of its customers and to minimise data protection incidents, a dedicated Programme Board is in place to oversee data protection matters in the Department.
In addition, my Department has in place a set of data protection policies, standards, procedures and guidelines governing the use of its computer systems and customer data. These policies, procedures and guidelines are kept under constant review and are updated as appropriate.
416. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of old-age pensioners who have been deemed ineligible for the fuel allowance due to residing with someone who does not qualify for the payment; and the number of OAPs deemed ineligible for the fuel allowance due to residing with an adult child, from 2018 to date. [42401/23]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs. The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full. The payment is made over the winter season at the weekly rate of €33.00 or, if preferred, by way of two instalments. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually.
The Department does not report on specific cohorts. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the number deemed ineligible for the fuel allowance due to residing with an adult child.
The Department generally collates data on an annual basis. Departmental records indicate that, during the period from January 2018 up to and inclusive of August 2023 (i.e. 31.08.23), 38,188 old-age pensioners were disallowed Fuel Allowance as they were considered to reside in an unqualified household at the time of decision, as per table below:
|
Year |
Disallowed* |
|
2018 |
5,294 |
|
2019 |
5,087 |
|
2020 |
5,936 |
|
2021 |
6,065 |
|
2022 |
8,187 |
|
2023 |
7,619 |
|
Total |
38,188 |
* Some customers may have been disallowed the Fuel Allowance in more than one of the above years.
It should also be noted that some of those included in the statistics above may have subsequently qualified for fuel allowance at a later stage.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
417. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the issue of old-age pensioners being unable to access the fuel allowance due to adult children moving back into their parents' home; whether her Department will review the eligibility requirements for the fuel allowance in light of this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42402/23]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €412 million in 2023. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.
The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment, a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including the household composition criteria. This ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.The Fuel Allowance guidelines allow a fuel applicant to live with a qualified spouse/civil partner/cohabitant or qualified child(ren). For the purposes of Fuel Allowance, a qualified child is one for whom an Increase for a Qualified Child is payable, or in the case of an applicant with no primary social welfare scheme, the child must be in full-time education if aged between 18 and 22. An unqualified family member who is living with a fuel allowance applicant may result in a reduction of additional allowances such as the Fuel Allowance payment to the householder.
A change in the qualifying criteria such as that proposed by the Deputy, would have to be considered in the context of budgetary negotiations. However, disregarding the income of another family member, would change the targeted nature of the scheme.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
418. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if a decision has been made on the review of a decision on an invalidity pension application by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42429/23]
View answerAn application for Invalidity Pension (IP) was received from the person concerned on 29 May 2023. Based on the information supplied with this application, they were deemed not medically eligible, in line with the conditions for IP. They were not considered to be permanently incapable of work and notified of this decision on 1 August 2023.
On 17 August 2023, the person concerned requested a review of this decision and supplied additional medical evidence. This review was completed and the person concerned was awarded IP with effect from 1 June 2023. They will receive the first payment to their nominated bank account on 12 October 2023. Any arrears due from 1 June 2023 to 11 October 2023 will issue shortly thereafter. The person concerned was notified of this decision on 22 September 2023.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
419. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if a school (details supplied) can be included in the free schools hot meals scheme being rolled out in the current year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42468/23]
View answerThe School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,700 schools and organisations benefitting 300,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and improve educational achievement.
Budget 2023 provided €94.4 million for the programme. In February, the Government approved an additional €14.5m to allow access to the Hot School Meals scheme for all remaining DEIS schools from September 2023.
Entry to the School Meals Scheme has been confined to DEIS schools in addition to schools identified by the Department of Education as having levels of concentrated disadvantage meaning that their students would benefit from access to the School Meals Programme. The school in question is a non DEIS school with no access to school meals programme funding.
Since my appointment as Minister for Social Protection, I have increased the number of schools with access to the Hot School Meal option from 37 to 1,100. I am committed to continuing to expand the School Meals Programme and building further on the significant extension of the programme that has taken place in recent years.
In this regard, as part of significant plans to extend the Hot School Meals programme, all remaining primary schools were contacted and requested to submit an expression of interest form if their school is interested in commencing the provision of hot school meals. Expressions of interest forms were received from over 900 non DEIS schools in respect of 150,000 children. I understand that an expression of interest was received from the school referred to by the Deputy.
From 2024, I intend commencing the roll-out of Hot School Meals to all remaining primary schools on a phased basis.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
420. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Social Protection if she can confirm when the income limit for the carer's allowance means test was last reviewed by her Department; if she is aware that the current income limit appears to be excessively restrictive, particularly in light of recent wage increases aimed at offsetting the significant rise in the cost of living, including the substantial increase in mortgage interest rates (details supplied); if she will give serious consideration to raising the income threshold to a more realistic level, or even consider abolishing the income threshold for carers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42489/23]
View answerThe Government acknowledges the important role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy.
The key role of my department is to provide income supports where an income need may arise due to unemployment, illness/disability and caring responsibilities. The payments provided are an income support to people who cannot earn, or can only earn a limited income, and who have no other means or resources to rely upon.
The income supports provided by my department are kept under constant review. Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of significant improvements within the social welfare system to enhance the supports available for our carers.
The income and capital disregards for Carer's Allowance were last increased in Budget 2022. These were the first changes to the means test in 14 years:
• The capital and savings disregard for the Carer’s Allowance means assessment was increased from €20,000 to €50,000, aligning it with the capital means test for Disability Allowance.
• For carers who work, the weekly income disregard was increased from €332.50 to €350 for a single person, and from €665 to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner.
The current Carer's Allowance disregards are the highest income disregards in the social welfare system and mean that, in the case of a couple, earnings of up to €41,500 a year are disregarded.
Removal of the means assessment for Carer’s Allowance, as the Deputy suggests, would change the scheme from a targeted income maintenance support for those most in need to a new universal social protection scheme for those meeting the scheme’s basic caring condition. This would give rise to a very significant annual cost.
In addition to Carer's Allowance, my department also provides a non-means tested payment to those carers who have to leave the workforce or reduce their hours in the form of Carer’s Benefit. For those providing ongoing care and attention for a child aged under 16 with a severe disability, Domiciliary Care Allowance is available and is also not means-tested. Furthermore, the annual Carer's Support Grant - which I increased to its highest-ever rate of €1,850 - is also available to carers who are not on a social welfare payment.
As part of Budget 2023, I announced a range of measures directly benefitting family carers. These included:
• A €12 increase in the maximum rate of Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit took effect from January 2023 with proportionate increases for people receiving a reduced rate.
• A €2 increase for each Qualified Child bringing rates to €50 for Over 12s and €42 for Under 12s from January 2023.
• The Half-rate Carer’s Allowance is now disregarded in the means assessment for Fuel Allowance since January 2023.
• Domiciliary Care Allowance increased by €20.50 to €330 per month with effect from January 2023.
• Domiciliary Care Allowance is now available in respect of children with severe illness or disability who remain in hospital for up to six months after birth.
Significant Cost-of-Living lump sum payments were also provided for carers. These included:
• Double Payments last October and December.
• €500 for people receiving Carer’s Support Grant paid in November 2022 and a further Cost of Living lump sum payment of €200 was paid to Carers in April 2023.
Notwithstanding the increased level of support already in place for carers, I have asked my department to keep these measures under review as part of the annual budgetary process.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
