Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
Liam Fitzgerald
Question:
249
Mr. L. Fitzgerald
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
if he will seek, in the forthcoming Social Welfare Bill, to have the increases for old age pensioners substantially improved in order that full account is taken of the very special needs of our senior citizens, most of whom have made a very significant contribution to our country and our economy during their working lives; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[4946/97]
In addition to the general flat-rate budget increase of £3 per week which was ahead of inflation in the last year, a 12-point package of measures was announced in this year's budget. These measures will directly and substantially improve the position of pensioners and carers. The details of these measures are available in the following appendix which is an extract from my budget speech of 23 January 1997.
Appendix
The following is an extract from the Minister's budget speech on 23 January 1997 which details the improvements pensioners and carers will receive.
A 12-point package of improvements is proposed for pensioners and carers.
(i) Newpro-rata pensions
In future, people who pay PRSI, but fail to qualify for the present minimum old age pension, will receive a contributory pension as long as their yearly average number of contributions is between 10 and 20. A yearly average between 15 and 19 will give entitlement to a pension of 75 per cent of the maximum rate, while an average of between 10 and 14 will give entitlement to a pension of 50 per cent. This measure, which will be introduced in November next, will mean that people with broken or sporadic contribution records will now qualify for a contributory pension, as long as they have at least 260 paid contributions. The reform will be of particular benefit to women who have spent long periods outside the paid workforce, working in the home; and who may not benefit from the 1994 homemakers provisions as these were not retrospective. It will also benefit returned emigrants and people who had periods of self-employment prior to 1988 when the self-employed started paying PRSI. It is estimated that this measure could benefit some 4,000 people at a first full year cost of £6 million, (although this should fall once the backlog of claimants has been dealt with).
(ii) Refunds for certain self-employed contributors
An anomaly is to be rectified which affects self-employed PRSI contributors who entered insurance in 1988, but were already over the age of 56 at that time. They will now be able to receive a refund of the pensions element of their PRSI, provided that they do not qualify for a social assistance payment. Heretofore, their earlier contributions precluded them from receiving a refund. It is estimated that this will benefit up to 600 people at a cost of £1 million.
(iii) Easing the Means Test
The means test for non-contributory old age pensions is to be eased. The same formula will be applied to this group as applies to a number of other groups. This system will also apply to carers, non-contributory widows and widowers and people on the pre-retirement allowance. This measures will make a significant contribution to achieving the important and long-standing objective of a uniform and consistent treatment of capital for means test purposes across all social assistance schemes.
The formula that will apply is as follows:
* an initial disregard of £2,000 will be applied:
* the next £20,000 will be assessed at 7.5 per cent:
* the balance will be assessed at 15 per cent and
* the £1 means penalty will be abolished.
(iv) Exempting rental income
A new exemption from the means test for Old Age (Non-contributory) Pension is to be introduced. Income in respect of rent will no longer be assessed where the income is in respect of a person who lives with and pays rent to the pensioner. This is a small but nonetheless important concession for old age pensioners with resident tenants, and will remove an unnecessary disincentive for pensioners to seek additional income and companionship.
(v) Extending time-limit for Late Claims
The current arrangements for the payment of arrears in the case of late claims for certain pensions have been reviewed and the period for which arrears are paid is to be extended from six months to 12 months. This revised arrangement will apply to claims for Retirement Pension, Old Age (Contributory) Pension and Widow's and Widower's (Contributory) Pension.
(vi) Retraining Treatment Benefits
Dependent spouses who are entitled to treatment (dental and optical) benefits will now retain their entitlement to those benefits if and when they qualify for Old Age (Non-Contributory) Pension in their own right. Heretofore, they lost entitlement because they were in receipt of a social welfare payment of their own, which was clearly an anomaly.
(vii) Transferring directly to PRETA
It will not become easier for people who cease to be entitled to the carer's allowance or the one-parent family payment to qualify for pre-retirement allowance. Entitlement to these payments ceases where the carer no longer provides full-time care and attention or, in the case of the lone parent, where they no longer have a qualified child. In such circumstances (e.g. when a child grows up or a person being cared for dies), the carer or lone parent will have immediate access to pre-retirement allowance, as the requirement that they claim unemployment assistance for 15 months before becoming eligible for PRETA is being abolished.
Free Schemes
In addition to the seven changes outlined above, there are three other changes which will benefit pensioners, relating to the free schemes. These will also be of benefit to certain other social welfare recipients, who qualify for the relevant schemes.
(viii) Simplifying Qualifying Conditions (FEA and FTRA)
The qualifying conditions for the free electricity allowance and free telephone rental allowance schemes are being simplified and eased. This will bring the two schemes into closer alignment and makes it easier for social welfare customers to understand their entitlements. It will also allow for more efficient and effective administration of the free schemes.
Three specific changes will improve eligibility for these schemes
(a) Free telephone rental allowance is payable where dependent children reside with the recipient, if the children concerned are aged under 18. This age limit is being extended to 22 years for children who are in full-time education. This puts it on a par with the rules for the free electricity allowance.
(b) The definition of who may reside with a recipient of free telephone rental allowance is being eased so as to include invalids, as in the case of the free electricity allowance.
(c) the definition of who may reside with a recipient of the free electricity and the free telephone rental allowances is being eased so as to include a person who is providing full-time care and attention to any member of the household. The carer in question does not have to be in receipt of a carer's allowance from the Department of Social Welfare.
(ix) Applicants aged over 75
A change in the qualifying conditions for the free schemes is being introduced which will benefit applicants for the free schemes who are aged over 75. Under the present rules all people aged over 75 who currently hold the free electricity allowance and/or the free telephone rental allowance may retain these allowances regardless of who resides with them: and people over age 75 who previously held these allowances may requalify for them regardless fo who resides with them.
However, new applicants over age 75 must currently satisfy more rigorous household composition conditions. In future, they will be treated in precisely the same way as all other persons in that age category and their household composition will not affect their eligibility for the free schemes.
(x) Free Travel Companion Pass
The free travel companion passes are being extended to cover all blind people who are registered with the National Council/League of the Blind. At present pensioners who would lose out financially by switching from, for example, an Old Age (Contributory) Pension to the Blind Person's Pension, are effectively excluded from eligibility for the companion pass. Similarly registered blind people aged under 66 who fail to qualify for the Blind Person's Pension on means grounds are also excluded. Those categories will now become automatically entitled to the companion pass.
All these improvements to the free schemes will take effect in June 1997.
Carer's Allowance
In addition to the ten improvements for pensioners outlined above, some of which also apply to carers and widowed people, there will be two important improvements to the carer's allowance this year. This allowance is an income maintenance payment for people providing full time care and attention to pensioners and certain people with disabilities. Hitherto, the particular needs of those who are engaged in caring for more than one person have not been recognised.
(xi) Extra 50 per cent for certain carers
From June of this year, provision is being made for the payment of an additional amount equivalent to 50 per cent of their existing entitlement to carers who are providing full-time care and attention to more than one person.
For example, a carer who is providing full-time care and attention to an elderly and incapicitated couple, and who would currently qualify for the new maximum personal rate allowance of £70.50 per week will as a result of this measure, receive an additional £35.35 per week, bringing her total weekly income to £105.75.
(xii) Question of full-time care and attention
A change is also being introduced to the rule which requires that carers must provide full-time care and attention. This is to cater for those situations in which care-recipients attend approved rehabilitation courses. The present requirement can have the effect of inhibiting or penalising such attendance. The necessary legislative provisions to allow for this change will be included in the forthcoming Social Welfare Bill.
As mentioned at point (iii) above, the means test in relation to the way capital and savings are assessed, for the purposes of the carer's allowance is also being eased. The more generous assessment of capital which applies in the case of disability allowance and the new one parent family payment is being extended to the carer's allowance from June (see point (iii) above for details).
(iii) Increase in "disregarded" earnings
A further improvement concerns the amount of earnings from employment of a rehabilitative nature which is disregarded in the assessment of means for disability allowance. This currently stands at £33.20 a week. Higher rates apply in the case of supplementary welfare allowance and the Blind Person's Pension. The earnings for these three schemes will not be aligned and increases to a standard £36.30 a week for each scheme. This will achieve much-needed uniformity in this area.
Rates
The personal rates are being increased by £3 and the adult dependant allowance by £1.50 from June this year.
Social Insurance Payments: Retirement/Old Age (Contributory) Pension: under age 80, £75.00; aged 80 or over, £80.00.
Social Assistance Payments: Old Age (Non-Contributory)/Blind Persons Pension: under age 80, £64.50; aged 80 or over, £69.50.
Liam Fitzgerald
Question:
250
Mr. L. Fitzgerald
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
in view of the increase in the 1997 budget for widows pension, his views on whether there is justification for a far more significant increase; if he will give a commitment to ensure that this is reflected in the forthcoming Social Welfare Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[4947/97]
A general £3 increase in widowed person's weekly social welfare payments was announced in the budget which is significantly ahead of inflation. This increase will be effective from June 1997 instead of the normal effective date of end of July and will benefit all widows and widowers.
A large number of additional measures, which were announced in this year's budget, will improve the position of many widows and widowers. The details of these measures are available in the following appendix which is an extract from my budget speech of 23 January 1997.
Easing the Means Test
The means test for non-contributory Old Age Pensions is to be eased. The same formula will be applied to this group as applies to a number of other groups. This system will also apply to carers, non-contributory widows and widowers and people on the pre-retirement allowance. This measure will make a significant contribution to achieving the important and long-standing objective of a uniform and consistent treatment of capital for means test purposes across all social assistance schemes.
The formula that will apply is as follows:
* an initial disregard of £2,000 will be applied;
* the next £20,000 will be assessed at 7.5 per cent;
* the balance will be assessed at 15 per cent and
* the £1 means penalty will be abolished.
Extending time-limit for Late Claims
The current arrangements for the payment of arrears in the case of late claims for certain pensions have been reviewed and the period for which arrears are paid is to be extended from six months to 12 months. This revised arrangement will apply to claims for Retirement Pension, Old Age (Contributory) Pension and Widow's and Widower's (Contributory) Pension.
Increase in Child Benefit
For widowed persons with three children an increase of £7 per month in child benefit.
Free Schemes: Simplifying Qualifying Conditions (FEA & FTRA)
The qualifying conditions for the free electricity allowance and free telephone rental allowance schemes are being simplified and eased. This will bring the two schemes into closer alignment and makes it easier for social welfare customers to understand their effective administration of the free schemes.
Three specific changes will improve eligibility for these schemes:
(a) Free telephone rental allowance is payable where dependent children reside with the recipient, if the children concerned are aged under 18. This age limit is being extended to 22 years for children who are in full-time education. This puts it on a par with the rules for the free electricity allowance.
(b) The definition of who may reside with a recipient of free telephone rental allowance is being eased so as to include invalids, as in the case of the free electricity allowance.
(c) The definition of who may reside with a recipient of the free electricity and the free telephone rental allowances is being eased so as to include a person who is providing full-time care and attention to any member of the household. The carer in question does not have to be in receipt of a carer's allowance from the Department of Social Welfare.
Applicants aged over 75
A change in the qualifying conditions for the free schemes is introduced which will benefit applicants for the free schemes who are aged over 75. Under the present rules all people aged over 75 who currently hold the free electricity allowance and/or the free telephone rental allowance may retain these allowances regardless of who resides with them: and people over age 75 who previously held these allowances may requalify for them regardless of who resides with them.
However, new applicants over age 75 must currently satisfy more rigorous household composition conditions. In future, they will be treated in precisely the same way as all other persons in that age category and their household composition will not affect their eligibility for the free schemes.
Free Travel Companion Pass
The free travel companion passes are being extended to cover all blind people who are registered with the National Council/League of the Blind. At present, pensioners who would lose out financially by switching from, for example, an Old-Age (Contributory) Pension to the Blind Person's Pension, are effectively excluded from eligibility for the companion pass. Similarly registered blind people aged under 66 who fail to qualify for the Blind Person's Pension on means grounds are also excluded. Those categories will now become automatically entitled to the companion pass.
Occupational Injuries Benefit: Survivor's Benefit
At present, a person who is incapable of work due to an occupational illness or injury may be entitled to disablement benefit under the OIB scheme. This is a personal award related to the level of disablement of a claimant and is not payable to a claimant's spouse after death. However, in cases where a person dies as a direct result of an occupational accident or injury, their surviving spouse may be entitled to a death benefit pension, which is payable at a higher rate than that of the Widow's/Widower's Contributory Pension.
A problem arises with the current arrangements where the cause of death cannot be directly attributed to the occupational disease or injury. For instance, a person may have qualified for disablement benefit on the basis of having pneumoconiosis (miner's lung) but they may have died from a different or related disease, such as heart disease.
In order to protect the position of the surviving spouse, the OIB survivor's benefit will be payable to a surviving spouse regardless of the cause of death of the claimant where the claimant's level of disablement had been assessed at 50 per cent or more.
Social Insurance Payments
Widow's Pension/Deserted Wife's/Prisoner's Wife's Allowance
|
—Under Age 80
|
68.10
|
|
—Aged 80 or over
|
73.10
|
|
Social Assistance Payments
|
|
—Under Age 80
|
64.50
|
|
—Aged 80 or over
|
69.50
|
Widower's Non-Contributory Pension
From October of this year a Widower's Non-Contributory Pension will be introduced on the same basis as that currently applying to widows.
Michael Ring
Question:
251
Mr. Ring
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
if he will instruct the Western Health Board to approve an application for a supplementary welfare allowance for a person (details supplied) in County Mayo who is in financial trouble.
[4961/97]
The person referred to by the Deputy is currently in receipt of pre-retirement allowance of £64.50, plus dependent child allowance of £13.20, giving him a total weekly income of £77.70. The mortgage on his residence is with Mayo County Council.
Under the provisions of the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, a weekly supplement may be paid in respect of mortgage interest to people in receipt of social welfare or health board payments, who satisfy the qualifying conditions. The SWA scheme is administered in the area by the Western Health Board and my Department has no role in determining individual entitlement.
For entitlement to a mortgage interest supplement an applicant must satisfy certain qualifying conditions, one of which is that the mortgage agreement was entered into when, in the opinion of the health board, the applicant was in a position to meet the repayments. A person in receipt of a social welfare or health board payment, who then applies for assistance with a mortgage repayment, is not regarded as being in a position to meet the repayments of a mortgage.
The person referred to by the Deputy applied for a mortgage interest supplement in January 1992. He was refused on the grounds that he had been continuously in receipt of a social welfare payment, unemployment assistance, at the time he entered into the mortgage agreement in 1986. He also failed to supply details of an accident compensation award he received. He re-applied for mortgage interest supplement in July 1996 and was again refused on the same grounds. He did not formally appeal either decision.
The only other payment the applicant may be entitled to under the SWA scheme is an Emergency Needs Payment (ENP). Provision in relation to the payment of ENPs is contained in section 181 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, which states that "a health board may, in any case where it considers it reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, so to do, determine that supplementary welfare allowance shall be paid to a person by way of a single payment to meet an exceptional need".
The purpose of ENPs is to help prevent hardship by providing for essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which applicants could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. There is not an automatic or statutory right of entitlement to an ENP and my Department has no role in determining individual entitlement. The person concerned recently applied for an ENP to help clear ESB arrears. He was supplied with an application form for completion which has not yet been returned to the health centre. Under the SWA scheme, assistance with fuel bills is provided in line with the practices set out in the code of practice agreed between the health boards, Bord Gáis Éireann, and the ESB. The code was designed principally to assist people who are having frequent difficulties in meeting their fuel bills by setting up a repayment agreement with the company involved. The payment agreement takes account of the customer's income and general circumstances.
In addition to the code of practice on fuel debts, my Department funds a money advice and budgeting service (MABS), which provides confidential advice from trained personnel on money maintenance and debt management in centres throughout the country. There is a MABS office located in the Mayo area at North Mayo MABS, Moy Valley, Cathedral Road, Ballina, Co. Mayo.
Mary Coughlan
Question:
252
Miss Coughlan
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
his views on whether it is unjust that a parent on unemployment benefit loses the child benefit allowance when that child reaches the age of 18 years in spite of the fact that the child may be at a second-level school while those in receipt of unemployment assistance may retain the allowance; and if he will change this regulation as a matter of urgency.
[5150/97]
Child dependant allowances are payable in respect of all children up to the age of 18 years. Where a claimant is in receipt of a long-term social welfare payment, child dependant allowances are payable where children are in full-time education up to the age of 22 years, or up to the end of the academic year after the 22nd birthday. This is in recognition of the fact that families with children on long-term payments face a higher risk of poverty.
However, it is recognised that the payment of child dependant allowances to social welfare recipients can act as a disincentive to taking up employment. The policy direction of this Government has, therefore, been to concentrate resources for child income support on child benefit and this has been continued in the 1997 budget package. This approach involves increasing child benefit as part of a planned strategy of moving towards a more integrated child income support system. However, it is recognised that there are substantial costs involved in moving towards a more universal system of income support for children.
Accordingly, priority has been given in this year's budget to assist low income families and in particular, larger families. This has been achieved by increasing the higher rate of child benefit, payable in respect of third and subsequent children by £5, 14.7 per cent, and in addition, increasing the lower rate of child benefit, payable in respect of the first and second child, by £1, 3.4 per cent. When taken together with the substantial increase of £7 for each child provided for in 1995 and £2 for each child provided for in 1996, this represents an increase of 50 per cent in the rate payable in respect of the first two children and 56 per cent in the higher rate payable in respect of third and subsequent children since this Government came to office.
Child benefit remains one of the most effective means of tackling poverty, as it channels resources directly to families most in need. It is of particular importance to families on low incomes as it is not taxable, is not withdrawn when an unemployed parent takes up employment and is not assessed as means for other secondary benefits such as differential rents, medical cards, etc. Therefore, it cannot act as a disincentive to taking up employment or improving wages.
In addition, in the context of reducing disincentives to work, priority is being given to family income supplement, FIS, as a means of increasing the net return from work to families with children. Accordingly, FIS is being reformed so as to be calculated on a net income basis, rather than on gross wages, as at present. This will significantly increase the supplements payable under the scheme, thereby increasing the rewards from work. As a first step, this year's budget provides that with effect from June, FIS will be calculated on the basis of gross earnings less any PRSI contributions and levies payable. Pension contributions will also be deductible. The income thresholds governing entitlement to FIS are also being increased by £10 at each point.
These two measures will mean that virtually all current FIS recipients will get an increase of at least £6 in their weekly payment. FIS recipients who pay PRSI, those earning over £80 per week, and the levies, those earning over £197 per week, will receive extra increases.
Given the Government's stated policy direction, it is not proposed to extend child dependant allowances on the lines suggested.
