Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 16 Jun 1994

Vol. 443 No. 9

Adjournment Debate. - Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme.

Mr. Gilmore

This matter arises from a contact I had during the week with a young woman employed as an apprentice hairdresser, earning approximately £60 per week in that capacity. She is living away from home in rented accommodation which she shares with a number of others and is paying £25 rent per week. Understandably, she is finding it very difficult to make ends meet. She applied to her community welfare officer for a rent allowance and was told it was not possible to pay her a rent allowance because she was working.

What I find astonishing about this case — and I pursued it myself subsequently through health board officials who confirmed that that was the position as it obtains under the regulations which govern rent allowances — is that if that young woman was unemployed, she would be receiving approximately the same amount of money and would qualify for a rent allowance. It simply does not make sense that somebody who wants to pursue a career — she does not want to leave the job, she is in her third year — should find herself in such circumstances. It does not make sense that somebody who works throughout the week for low pay — that is another matter, but it is an apprenticeship — will not qualify for an allowance to help her with her rent for which she would qualify if she were unemployed.

My purpose in raising this matter this evening is to ask the Minister for Social Welfare, through the Minister of State present, Deputy O'Rourke, to examine the regulations governing rent allowances and endeavour to eliminate this type of anomaly where the very same person who would qualify for such allowance, if unemployed, does not so qualify because she is working, even though the amount she earns is no more than she would receive in social welfare payments if unemployed.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment (Mrs. O'Rourke)

I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Social Welfare, Deputy Woods.

I am most interested in this case both through my constituency work and through the fact that the young woman about whom the Deputy speaks is an apprentice. While that same principle could be applied to anybody on low pay, the rates for apprentices are established, which means the rate of money this young woman receives is set at a particular level. The Deputy has put forward a fair case.

Under the legislations governing the supplementary welfare allowance scheme people in full-time employment are excluded in all but exceptional circumstances from receipt of an allowance. People in part-time employment may qualify for assistance under the provisions of the scheme, including rent supplements, subject to the normal rules applicable to the scheme. For the purpose of supplementary welfare allowance part-time employment means employment of less than 30 hours per week. Clearly the woman to whom the Deputy referred would be in full-time employment, even though she is learning a trade.

The social welfare allowance provision for rent and mortgage supplementation is designed primarily to cater for people on social welfare payments who are in private accommodation and need assistance with rent or mortgage costs. Other schemes of direct housing assistance are operated by local authorities. Here I might add that the amount expended on rent and mortgage supplements under the social welfare allowance scheme amounted to £47 million in 1993. The extension of entitlement to rent supplements and other assistance under the social welfare allowance scheme to people in full-time employment would have major financial implications for social welfare and for assistance with housing costs. Therefore, it would have to be considered in a budgetary context.

The Deputy may put forward the case that if that same young lady was unemployed and in receipt of the same amount in unemployment assistance she would be entitled to considerable assistance towards her housing needs. The Minister said that his Department is in consultation with the health boards revising the guidelines for the operation of rent and mortgage supplementation under the SWA scheme and revised guidelines will be available by the end of the summer. Arising from the present review, the Minister is examining a number of issues relating to housing costs generally to see whether further developments may be necessary. From a constituency point of view, we are all conscious of the position of people on low earnings who are in full-time employment. The policy of the Department of Social Welfare has always been that every possible support should be given to people in this situation, subject to family constraints.

The family income supplement scheme is designed to improve cash support for employees on low earnings with families. There are 10,000 people in receipt of a FIS payment compared with 7,200 a year ago. The Minister for Social Welfare will be increasing the qualifying income limits for the scheme by an additional £10 from the end of July 1994 which will ensure that the uptake of this employment support is extended to more families on low incomes.

I thank Deputy Gilmore for raising the matter. It is not an abstract matter, it is a specific case and he has provided all the details. The rules and guidelines for the operation of rent and mortgage supplementation are being revised and will be available by the end of the summer. I hope this debate will have some input into those guidelines. The qualifying income limits for FIS will be increased by £10 from the end of July. This will enable a greater take-up of the scheme.

The Dáil adjourned at 7.25 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 21 June 1994.