Vol. 407 No. 7
13 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he has satisfied himself with the instructions given to social welfare officers when assessing small farmers' incomes for unemployment assistance purposes with particular reference to the notional assessment concerning number and value of livestock sold; and if he has further satisfied himself that the present policy of means assessment can adequately calculate real farm income.
66 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason for the inconsistency between different welfare officers when it comes to putting a value on calves retained on the farm for farmers who apply for unemployment assistance.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 66 together.
Means from farming for unemployment assistance purposes are assessed on a factual basis and are investigated by social welfare officers. These assessments make allowances for all the typical expenses and for any exceptional circumstances.
Means are not assessed on the basis of stock on hand. They are assessed by reference to sales of stock and farm produce in the past 12 months plus income from grants and subsidies.
Receipts from sales of product and livestock are verified where practicable and take account of prevailing market prices.
23 Mr. McCartan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will express unemployment assistance payable to (a) a single person and (b) a person with a dependent spouse and two dependent children, as a percentage of the male average industrial wage, at the latest date for which figures are available.
The following is the information requested by the Deputy. From July 1991, a single person on long term unemployment assistance will receive £55 per week, which is 21.0 per cent of the gross male average industrial wage. A person with a dependent spouse and with two children will receive £112 per week, which is 42.8 per cent of the gross male average industrial wage.
However, as unemployment payments are not subject to tax, a more useful comparison is with the average industrial wage, net of tax and PRSI.
24 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will consider making family income supplement payments automatic, based on income tax returns, given the low take-up rate of FIS and the continuing high levels of low pay in the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The number of FIS recipients now stands at 6,568. This is the highest figure ever recorded, and is 32 per cent above the corresponding figure for March 1989. Family income supplement now provides for 24,536 children. This increased level of take-up reflects the major improvements which I have made to the scheme in recent years. These include a substantial increase in the income limits for eligibility, a reduction of the hours-to-work qualification from 24 to 20 hours, an increase in the number of qualifying children in a family from five to eight and implementation of a minimum £5 weekly payment for all recipients. Take-up has been further encouraged by extensive publicity campaigns, and removal of the fear, which some claimants had, that FIS income would result in loss of the medical card.
27 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will allow the right of appeal to persons who have been assessed by the maintenance recovery pensions services and found to be liable for the support and maintenance of a spouse in receipt of a deserted wife's benefit/ allowance or lone parent's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The new liable relative's provisions came into force on 29 November 1990. Under these provisions a man is responsible for maintaining his spouse and children and a woman for maintaining her spouse and children. If he or she fails or neglects to do so and payments have to be awarded under the schemes for lone parents, deserted wives, or under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme they, the liable relatives, are required to contribute towards the cost of such payments.
In calculating the maintenance contribution due by the liable relative account is taken of the person's particular financial circumstances and commitments, including commitments to dependants now living with that person. The legislation does not specify a formula to be applied in determining this contribution and I do not propose to set hard and fast rules at this stage, pending experience of the operation of the scheme. In all cases of separation or desertion, however, the maximum amount due is the total weekly payment being made to the dependent spouse and children. Where the liable relative is not married to the other parent of his-her children, he or she is only liable to contribute towards the cost of the child dependent allowances.
In general the maintenance contribution is determined by reference to the liable relative's net income, after allowance has been made for outgoings on tax, PRSI, housing costs and so on. Allowance is also made for the living expenses of the liable relative and dependants living with him or her. In general, the amount of such allowances is based on allowances under the social welfare schemes.
The contribution due is 50 per cent of the balance of the net income, subject to the limit of the amount of the payment being made in respect of the liable relative's spouse and/or children.
29 Mr. Kemmy asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will conduct an inquiry into the special expenditure patterns of lone parent households in order to ascertain a minimum adequate income for such households.
I would like to assure the House that I am very aware of the situation of single parents on low incomes. I have introduced significant improvements in the social welfare area for this group in recent years. I introduced the deserted husband's and widower's scheme in October 1989; the lone parent's allowance scheme in October 1990, which streamlined the existing arrangements and extended their scope to include separated persons and unmarried fathers; and the back-to-school clothing allowance also in 1990.
The increase in the rates of payment last year meant that the priority rate of payment recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare has already been achieved. The improvements provided for in the Social Welfare Act, 1991 mean that this rate is maintained in real terms this year at £69 for a lone parent with one child. As stated in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress, the aim is to increase social welfare rates further and progressively, in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission, as the resources of the economy grow.
30 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reasons child dependency rates are not applicable to persons on supplementary welfare benefits in respect of children over the age of 18 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
An age limit of 18 years has applied for a long number of years for the purposes of child dependant increases of social welfare payments except in the case of recipients of widow's pension and other analogous payments where increases continued to be payable up to age 21 in respect of children who continued in full-time education.
31 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of people receiving disability benefit; and the average length of time of receipt of this benefit in months and years for each recipient.
There were 54,223 people receiving disability benefit at the end of March 1991.
The average duration of disability benefit claims closed in 1990 was 22 weeks, or approximately five months. There is a wide variation in the duration of disability benefit claims; most are of only a few weeks duration, while a smaller number are paid for a longer period of time. For example, more than half of all claims are of less than four weeks duration. The average does not, therefore, represent a typical case.
33 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans he has to pay unemployment benefit/unemployment assistance on a fortnightly basis; the plans he has to pay pensions on a monthly basis; his views on the social effects of such plans for the community at large; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
In general, unemployment payments are payable in cash on a weekly basis at local offices of my Department. Pensions are payable by way of weekly personalised payable orders which issue to pensioners in book form.
35 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason that in assessing an application for mortgage/rent supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a person whose spouse is working is not assessed on the basis of the take-home pay in determining eligibility, but rather on pay before income tax is paid; and if he will make a statement on the anomaly in this compared to the means test of benefit for an offspring.
Assistance toward the cost of rent or mortgage interest payments can be made by way of an additional payment of supplementary welfare allowance under section 209 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 and regulations made under that section.
From time to time guidelines are also issued to health boards to facilitate administration of the scheme. The guidelines relating to the payment of rent and mortgage supplements are being reviewed within my Department at present in consultation with the health boards with a view to their publication in an informational booklet format.
The issue raised by the Deputy will be examined in the context of this review.
37 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Social Welfare when the practice of requiring applicants for child benefit to quote their husband's RSI number was introduced; the reasons for introducing this practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The practice of requesting applicants for child benefit to quote their own and their spouses RSI numbers was introduced in 1983. The RSI number is the common reference number used in the majority of schemes operated by my Department and it is the policy of my Department to have one reference number for all schemes.
The standardisation will simplify the process for clients when making applications for the various benefits and allowances to which they may be entitled and improve efficiency.
40 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary was refused unemployment assistance on the grounds that it is clear from the evidence that the appellant has only made very limited local efforts to find work, even though no work is available and evidence was produced that he had tried; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The claim of the person concerned was reviewed in October 1990 with regard to his efforts to obtain employment. A statutory condition for entitlement to unemployment assistance is that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking work. Claims are periodically reviewed to ensure that claimants continue to satisfy these statutory conditions.
He supplied the names of two employers from whom he had sought work and stated that there was no work available in the locality. His claim, with the report of the interview, was submitted to a deciding officer who took the view that he had not made satisfactory efforts to get work and disallowed his claim from 7 November 1990 on the grounds that he was not genuinely seeking work.
He appealed the disallowance to the independent social welfare appeals office and submitted three further letters from employers, dated January 1991, in support of his appeal. He attended an oral hearing of his appeal on 13 March 1991. The appeals officer upheld the deciding officer's decision and considered that he had unreasonably restricted the area in which he had sought work.
