Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
Derek McDowell
Question:
226
Mr. D. McDowell
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
if he intends to extend the provision to other categories of social welfare recipients whereby lone parents are permitted to earn up to a stated amount without affecting their social welfare entitlements.
[23246/96]
While the principle of consistency across all social welfare schemes is desirable, it should also be noted that different categories of social welfare recipients have differing needs. The social welfare system must, therefore, be flexible enough to respond adequately to these needs. The different methods of assessing earnings as between the various social assistance payment schemes reflects specific policies being pursued by my Department, which are aimed at targeting particular groups of recipients for special attention.
For example, research has clearly shown that unemployed lone parent families are particularly at risk of poverty. Accordingly, the new one parent family payment scheme, which will be introduced from January next, will continue with the policy of encouraging and facilitating lone parents to enter the workforce. Under the new scheme, the amount which lone parents can earn without affecting their entitlement to payment is being increased to £6,000 a year. This measure is designed to encourage such people to gain a foothold in the labour market, thereby reducing their dependence on social welfare payments.
The earnings disregards applying to other social assistance schemes are designed to achieve different objectives. In the case of unemployment assistance, UA, for instance, the system sometimes offers greater security to unemployed people to remain unemployed rather than risk taking up any employment opportunities which may arise, particularly if those opportunities are temporary or insecure. The method of assessing earnings for UA purposes has, therefore, recently been revised.
Under the improved arrangements, where a person works for up to three days a week, earnings are now assessed at 60 per cent. In addition, persons without children are allowed a £10 disregard for each day worked, while the balance of earnings are assessed at 60 per cent. These changes simplify the system of assessment of earnings from employment and thereby improve the incentive for unemployed people to take up casual and part-time work opportunities. The improved measures are designed to ensure that claimants have an incentive to work at all levels of earnings, even where the level of pay is less than the rate of UA.
Last year I increased to £150 a week the amount of income which the spouse of a recipient of carer's allowance may have, without affecting the carer's entitlement. This was in recognition of the special contribution which carers make to our society. I am not satisfied, therefore, that the extension of a measure which is specifically geared towards tackling the particular needs of one group of recipients, to cover all others would be in the best interests of social welfare recipients generally, particularly as this would be likely to reduce the flexibility of the system to respond effectively to the differing needs of those who depend on it.
Mary Harney
Question:
227
Miss Harney
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
if health boards intend to give a rent subsidy to tenants evicted by local authorities from local authority houses for involvement in drug dealing to enable them to rent houses in private estates; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[23288/96]
The supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of rent payments to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The purpose of rent supplements is to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible persons living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source.
In order to be eligible for such a payment the claimant must satisfy the general conditions of entitlement to SWA set out in the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, and the conditions of entitlement to a rent supplement set out in the regulations. Those generally excluded from receiving assistance under the SWA scheme include people in full-time employment, people in full-time education and people involved in trade disputes.
The payment of rent supplements to tenants evicted from local authority housing as a result of anti social behaviour is under review as the withdrawal of social welfare payments has legal and social implications.
Legislation to address the problem of antisocial behaviour in local authority housing estates is being drafted as a matter of urgency by the Department of Environment and will be presented to the Dáil as soon as possible. It is intended in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 1996, that the term "antisocial behaviour" will be defined so as to focus on drug pushing and related activity.
The new Bill is aimed primarily at providing necessary legislative support to strengthen the capacity of housing authorities to deal with antisocial behaviour as one element in the management of housing estates. It is envisaged that the legislation will provide discretion, in certain circumstances, for health boards to refuse or withdraw assistance under the SWA scheme in respect of rent or mortgage supplementation of private housing in the case of tenants evicted by a housing authority on the grounds of drug pushing or related antisocial behaviour.
Mary O'Rourke
Question:
228
Mrs. O'Rourke
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
the social welfare benefits which accrue to a person who opts, voluntarily, to go on a pre-retirement pension.
[22986/96]
The pre-retirement allowance, which was introduced in 1990 as an optional scheme, relieves older unemployed people of the necessity of signing on each week at their social welfare local office and provides them with alternative arrangements for receiving their payments. Payment is made by way of payable orders encashable at post offices. The allowance was initially introduced for long-term unemployed persons aged 60 years or over, but was reduced to 58 years of age in 1991 and to 55 years of age in 1992.
A person who had an entitlement to a fuel allowance or butter vouchers prior to transferring to the pre-retirement allowance, retains those entitlements provided their circumstances remain unchanged. Similarly, a person who had an entitlement to credited social insurance contributions while in receipt of unemployment assistance retains that entitlement on transferring to the pre-retirement allowance. In that way, entitlements to social insurance benefits and pensions are safeguarded for the future.
Joe Walsh
Question:
229
Mr. J. Walsh
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
the plans, if any, he has to extend social welfare ancillary benefits to recipients of widow's or survivor's pensions; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[22992/96]
Recipients of widow's and survivor's pensions from my Department already have access to a range of ancillary or additional benefits. In common with all other people resident in the State, recipients of such pensions automatically qualify for free travel on reaching 66 years of age.
The other free schemes administered by my Department, such as free electricity allowance and free telephone rental allowance, are available to recipients of widow's and suvivor's pensions aged 66 or over who are either living alone or who otherwise satisfy the living alone condition. In addition, widows between the age of 60 and 65 whose late husbands had entitlement to the free schemes, retain that entitlement notwithstanding their age. A fuel allowance, under the national fuel scheme, is available to widows and widowers who are dependent on a long-term payment from my Department and who are unable to provide for their own heating needs.
Widows and widowers in receipt of a qualifying payment from my Department may also be eligible for rent and mortgage interest supplements under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. They may also be eligible for assistance under the back-to-school clothing and footwear scheme which also comes under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The question of further extending the range of additional benefits currently available to recipients of various social welfare payments is a matter for consideration in the light of available resources and the best use of those resources.
