Rory O'Hanlon
Question:9 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will extend the family budgetary scheme to all social welfare recipients. [6128/95]
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Household Budgeting Scheme.
The household budgeting scheme is a free service operated on behalf of social welfare customers by An Post. People receiving unemployment payments can authorise An Post to deduct regular amounts towards various household bills from their weekly payments. An Post in turn forward these deductions to the appropriate organisations.
The scheme is proving to be quite popular with 7,264 people participating at the end of February 1995. The average amount deducted per person is currently £16.98. There are 40 local authorities participating in the scheme covering county councils down to urban district councils. In addition the scheme also covers the ESB, Telecom Éireann and the various gas utilities. The annual value of the deductions made is £6.4 million. Not only is this a worthwhile service for social welfare customers but it is also of benefit to the participating organisations in reducing arrears. I am in favour of the extension of the household budgeting scheme to all social welfare customers as soon as is possible. The main areas currently outside the scheme are lone parents and pensioners. These customers are paid by an order book system and this does not have the same flexibility as the weekly generated payment used for making unemployment payments.
My Department, in conjunction with An Post, is currently examining ways to change the existing order book payment systems so as to enable the household budgeting scheme to be offered to all in receipt of a payment from my Department.
My concern is for lone parents with small children who receive eviction notices from local authorities because they have not paid their rents. They are prepared to enter an arrangement with the county council by way of a post office account while awaiting an opportunity to participate in the household budgeting scheme. I understand that it may be difficult in the short term to extend that scheme across the board, but the Minister should examine specific areas because the days of evicting people for non-payment of rent are gone and more than 82 per cent of people in local authority houses are maintained solely or mainly by social welfare assistance. If they are prepared to pay their rent in that way some formula should be found to enable them to do so.
I agree with the Deputy. The only reason the scheme has not been extended to lone parents is because they are paid by order book which usually issues to them with 26 weekly payment orders. These books are generated as a result of a computer tape sent from the Department to a security printer, currently De la Rue Smurfit. An Post is not involved in the generation of payment, unlike the payment to employed customers. In the case of the latter payments, they are sent to An Post who, in turn, generate the payment after processing the tape through the household budgeting deduction facility.
Discussions are currently under way with An Post and this Department as to the best way to include those paid by payment order book. Significant changes to the current computer systems that generate these payments would be required and it is likely to be some time before this facility can be offered to lone parents and pensioners. We are examining the situation and are conscious of the need to do so and that the strongest demand for an extension of the scheme is from lone parents who want to have a facility which will save them the worry of holding on to their gas or ESB money until the bill comes fluttering through the letterbox.