Vol. 417 No. 3
13 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Social Welfare the regulations which remain to be made under the 1990 or 1991 Social Welfare Acts; if any deadline has been set for making the remaining orders; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
All the necessary orders bringing the provisions of the Social Welfare Act, 1990 into effect have been introduced. The requirement under various sections of that Act for the mandatory introduction of regulations has also been met.
A number of orders and regulations providing for the introduction of various provisions of the Social Welfare Act, 1991 have yet to be introduced. Regulations relating to child benefit under section 6 of that Act, to define the circumstances in which a qualified child will be regarded as receiving full-time education, will be made shortly.
Sections 18 to 20 of Part III of the Act provide that reduced rates of disability and unemployment benefit and invalidity pension will in future be determined by reference to earnings rather than numbers of contributions paid. The new arrangements will apply to all new claims which are made on or after 4 January 1993 and the necessary regulations will be introduced in advance of that date.
Section 21 of Part III of the 1991 Act provides for the standardisation of the existing maternity benefit provisions. Further amendment of the maternity benefit provisions are necessary before this section is brought into operation. These amendments will be provided for in the forthcoming Social Welfare Bill.
Section 50 of the 1991 Act enables regulations to be made prescribing the manner in which a person will prove unemployment. This is to facilitate the introduction of alternative payment methods. I am awaiting the outcome of a number of pilot schemes on alternative payment methods which are under way at present and the regulations will be made in the light of the outcome of those schemes.
Section 43 of the Social Welfare Act, 1990 and sections 51, 54 and 56 of the Social Welfare Act, 1991 contain discretionary powers for the making of regulations in relation to such matters as rounding of rates of payments, making certain deductions with the consent of the recipient and minor changes to the means test. Proposals for regulations in these areas are at present under consideration by my Department.
May I ask the Minister if it is his intention to have the regulations completed before the 1992 Social Welfare Bill is introduced in the House? Second, in relation to the pilot schemes on alternative payment methods to which the Minister referred — essentially, these schemes provide for the making of cheque payments to certain categories of social welfare recipients — given the outrageous position adopted by the banks, who initially issued an order to bar cash payments in respect of cheques and who subsequently had to review their position because of a public outcry, and given the current dispute in the banks, would the Minister tell the House how he intends to make payments to those who are in receipt of cheque payments at present should the dispute escalate?
The Deputy has mentioned the possibility of an all-out bank strike and while it is a matter for another Minister, this would have implications for the pilot schemes which are in operation. However, my Department will make alternative arrangements to overcome that problem. It is my intention to introduce a programme over a number of years to allow people avail of alternative payment methods. With modern technology and computerisation, it should be possible for people to avail of alternative methods. In the short time I have been in the Department I have discovered, in relation to the problem mentioned by Deputy Byrne, that the banks have resisted the introduction of certain transactions because they do not want further complications in the system. We are endeavouring to bring about a situation where everyone would have the opportunity to avail of alternative payment methods if they so desire. We hope to make progress on this matter.
In his initial reply the Minister referred to regulations dealing with means testing. What exactly does he have in mind? I hope it will not be made more strict than it is already.
As I do not have the answer to that question the Deputy will have to put down a separate question. Like many of those listening, I am not an expert on this matter. I am sure, however, that when my predecessor dealt with this matter during the course of the debate on the two previous Acts he outlined what was intended.
Would the Minister care to let us know?
The regulations which the Minister said are outstanding would all seem to be "bad news" regulations. Would the Minister consider publishing the bones of the orders when made so that the public would be aware of the changes which will make it more difficult in nearly all cases for the public to receive various payments in the same way as he publishes good news, for example, increases? It is important that the public be fully informed of their entitlements and of how they might go about getting them.
That is something that could be considered, Deputy. Since politicians are always quick to give out good news it would be no harm if we published regulations when they are amended. While I will have to check what the procedure is in this regard, in principle, I would not be averse to doing that.
Make a decision.
At present details of regulations are readily available in the Department. I will try to find out if we intend to publish regulations in the future. I would have thought, however, that people find out about the changes quickly enough when they contain bad news.
The Minister might be able to change them.
Perhaps in speeding up good news we will also speed up the bad news. I think that is a new political concept.
