asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reasons the application for unemployment benefit of a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary has been refused.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
17.
The entitlement to unemployment benefit of the person concerned for the period in question is subject to the condition that she must have had at least 26 contributions paid at a class which provides cover against unemployment since her date of entry into insurance and at least 26 contributions paid or credited at the appropriate rate in the contribution year governing her claim.
According to the Department's records the person concerned has only 27 Class J contributions paid on her behalf since she entered insurance. These contributions provide cover for occupational injuries benefits only. She has no contributions paid or credited during the contribution year April 1984 to April 1985, which governs her benefit claim from 30 May 1986. Consequently, it was not possible to authorise her claim.
Certain inquiries have been made to assist in clarifying the position regarding the insurability of her employment during the period August 1984 to September 1985 but it has not been possible to conclude the investigation as the person concerned is living abroad at present and a further interview with her is required before matters can be finalised.
18.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will make a statement on the current practice in his Department in compensating recipients for delays in social welfare payments.
30.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to compensate social welfare recipients who due to no fault of their own must wait lengthy periods for payment of social welfare benefits; his views on whether compensation should be paid in such cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Question Nos. 18 and 30 together.
Arrangements have recently been made to compensate people in situations where there may have been undue delay in paying social welfare entitlements.
Compensation is payable for delays in excess of two years. The quarterly consumer price index is used as the means of calculating the amount of compensation which is due in such cases.
19.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of people in receipt of invalidity pensions for years 1984 to 1986 inclusive.
The number of persons receiving invalidity pensions at 31 December for each of the years in questions was:
|
1984 |
21,981 |
|
1985 |
23,638 |
|
1986 |
26,107 |
20.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to eliminate the anomalies within the existing system regarding the payment of old age pensions; and if he is prepared to pay old age contributory pensions on a pro rata basis.
One of the conditions for entitlement to old age contributory pension is that a person must have a yearly average of at least 20 contributions since 5 January 1953 or his entry into insurance, if later. Non-manual workers were, prior to 1974, not compulsorily insurable whenever their income went over a certain limit. This meant that such workers could have gaps in their insurance record unless they become voluntary contributors.
In some cases the gaps were such that persons did not have sufficient contributions to qualify for old age contributory pension and I presume that this is the situation which the Deputy has in mind.
This issue was specifically examined in the Report of the Commission on Social Welfare which suggested the payment of pro rata pensions for persons in this situation. I am reviewing this matter in the context of my overall consideration of the Commission's recommendations.
21.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will eliminate the obligation to sign on for unemployed persons except at the beginning and end of a period of unemployment, in view of the enormous number of man-hours taken up by officers of his Department and by the Garda Síochána in this activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The current signing arrangements for unemployed persons are governed by statutory regulations which provide that claimants for unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance must sign the unemployed register to indicate that they are available for and genuinely seeking work. Persons who reside within six miles of a local office of my Department are required to present themselves there to sign the register at least once weekly to prove unemployment. Claimants who reside over six miles from the local office are required to attend at their local Garda station or other approved signing centre once a week to have their unemployment declarations certified by a member of the Garda Síochána. The signing form incorporates a declaration by the claimant that he continues to satisfy the conditions for receipt of unemployment payments. In the event of fraudulent claiming, the declaration of unemployment made each week is an essential element in the evidence produced in court. In addition, the signing form enables claimants to indicate the days on which they were employed each week; in the absence of this declaration, the local office would not know how many days unemployment benefit or assistance were due.
Attendance at signing centres was introduced to facilitate persons who would have too far to travel to the nearest local office each week. These claimants generally have no direct contact with the local office and my Department rely on the gardaí to certify that they continue to satisfy the conditions for receipt of payment. I am satisfied that certification by the gardaí is a necessary control measure against abuses of the unemployment schemes. Any alternative system such as, for instance, one which allowed claimants generally to submit unsubstantiated declarations to their unemployment by post without the need to present themselves periodically at the local office or signing centre could be open to abuse and loss of public funds.