Bernard J. Durkan
Question:131 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the proposals, if any, he has to eliminate poverty and unemployment traps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18823/98]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Code.
Considerable progress has been achieved in recent years in reducing the incidence and effects of poverty and unemployment traps in the social welfare system. Among the measures which have contributed to this improvement are: the continued enhancement of child benefit as part of a strategy of making child income support more neutral vis-à-vis the employment status of the parents; the introduction of net income assessment for the purposes of determining entitlement to family income supplement; the introduction of a tapered qualified adult allowance, which provides for the retention of the allowance, at a reduced level, when the earnings of the spouse or partner of a social welfare claimant has earnings of between £60 and £90 per week; the revision of the means testing arrangements governing entitlement to unemployment assistance, which ensure that claimants have an incentive to work for up to three days at all levels of earnings, even where the level of pay is less than the rate of unemployment assistance; the continued enhancement of the back-to-work allowance scheme and the back-to-education programme operated by my Department.
On a general level, my Department constantly monitors the operation of its schemes with a view to ensuring that poverty traps and disincentives are removed. This is in line with the national anti-poverty strategy which identifies tackling unemployment as one of the key areas for helping people out of poverty. I am determined to continue to work towards ensuring that the welfare system is fully responsive to the needs of the unemployed and particularly the long-term unemployed and that it provides real opportunities to such people to break out of the cycle of unemployment. In this regard, I will be examining the potential for the introduction of further measures in the context of the forthcoming budget.