The lack of integration between the various social services of an income related nature administered by Government Departments and State agencies has been a matter of concern for some time. This lack of integration can result in duplication of effort by those agencies involved in administering income support schemes, since each agency carries out its own means test. This issue has been highlighted on a number of occasions in the House and by various commentators. Complaints have also been received from people regarding the number of times they have to provide the same information to different State agencies to receive their entitlements. The report of the interdepartmental Committee on the development of an integrated Social Services System, published in 1996, sets out a framework for the development of an integrated approach to the administration, delivery, management and control of publicly funded income support services. The basic objective is to introduce greater coherence into the provision of these services. One of the issues being addressed in this context is the question of sharing information, including means data, within and between agencies involved in the delivery of social services. The Deputy will be aware of the requirements and obligations set out under the Data Protection Act to protect the privacy interests of individuals when information about them is processed. My Department is currently in the process of preparing legislation which will allow for the sharing of data, under specified circumstances, between the various agencies.
The aim is to put in place over time better administrative procedures by the various State agencies which will enable them to share the latest available means data for a customer. The means information could be stored on a Central Means Database, which has been developed by my Department which could then be accessed by relevant agencies where the customer has made a claim for an allowance, grant, etc. This would help ensure a better and quicker service for customers.
In relation to the means tested schemes operated by my Department, there is a need to balance the desire for uniformity and consistency across all social welfare means tests with the need to ensure that the system is sufficiently flexible to be able to respond adequately to the specific needs of differing categories of customers.
The different methods of assessing earnings between the various social assistance payment schemes reflect, in many instances, specific policies being pursued by the Department, which are aimed at targeting particular groups of recipients for special attention.
For example, the means test associated with the one-parent family payment scheme acts to encourage and facilitate lone parents to enter the active labour force by enabling them to earn up to £6,000 a year without affecting their entitlement to the payment. It is recognised that unemployed lone parents face many difficulties in trying to access the labour market, particularly in relation to child minding expenses, and as a consequence they are particularly at risk of poverty. This measure is designed, therefore, to specifically encourage such people to gain a foothold in the labour market, thereby reducing their dependence on social welfare payments.
Similarly, the means test associated with the unemployment assistance scheme has been restructured to make it easier for claimants to avail of casual and part-time work opportunities and to ensure that they are always better off as a result.
My Department will continue to seek to streamline the administration of means tests in the interests of improving the quality of service to customers and of ensuring that their specific needs are reflected in the nature of the means tests involved.