John V. Farrelly
Question:214 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if the carer's allowance is means tested following the new proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter [13475/99]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The carer's allowance is a social assistance payment to carers on low incomes who live with and look after certain people who need full-time care and attention. At the end of March 1999 there were 11,659 carers in receipt of the carer's allowance. The estimated expenditure on carer's allowance in 1999 is over £59 million. Following a detailed examination of the review of the carer's allowance which was launched in October 1998 and its proposals on the improvement and development of the carer's allowance, a range of measures were introduced in the 1999 budget at an additional annual cost of over £18 million, to improve and develop the position of carers. The 1999 budget introduced improvements in the means test for carer's allowance. From August 1999, a disregard of £75 per week will be applied to the income of a carer who is single and the current disregard of £150 per week will be applied to the joint means of a married couple.
The submissions and proposals of the organisations representing carers were considered as part of the review process and are set out in the report. One of the major issues raised by these groups was the removal or easing of the carer's allowance means test. The review examined the means test and considered that it should be maintained as a way of targeting scarce public resources towards those who are most in need. The means test applied to the carer's allowance is one of the more generous tests associated with social welfare payments.
Charles Flanagan
Question:215 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will rectify the anomalous situation regarding the living alone allowance where a person holding an old age pension from another jurisdiction is not entitled to the allowance while entitled to all other associated free schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13476/99]
The purpose of the living alone allowance of £6 per week is to recognise the extra cost of living alone. It is payable as an addition to weekly social welfare pensions to people aged 66 years of age or over, who are in receipt of certain social welfare-type payments, and who reside alone. The allowance is an integral part of the Irish pension system and is designed to cover a specific contingency. As such, it has no applicability vis-à-vis pension payments made under the social security regimes of other EU member states or countries with which Ireland has bilateral agreements. This is fully in accordance with the EU regulations which allow all member states to decide which benefits are granted and under what conditions.
There are no plans to extend this allowance to people in receipt of a social security pension or benefit from a country covered by EU regulations or a country with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement. This does not, however, preclude low income pensioners from qualifying for the free schemes provided that they are in receipt of a qualifying payment, for example, in this instance, from another EU member state, or that they satisfy a means-test and are living alone or with certain categories of excepted people.
Brian O'Shea
Question:216 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the proposals, if any, he has to relax the means text on the back to school allowance for recently widowed parents with young children who take up part-time employment for therapeutic and financial reasons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13479/99]
The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards. The scheme is designed to assist certain recipients of social welfare and health board payments with the cost of children's school uniforms and footwear. Certain people on low incomes who are in receipt of family income supplement may also qualify for assistance. In order to qualify for the allowance, the claim must be in respect of a qualified child, the applicant must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and they must satisfy a specified means test. A qualified child is one who falls into one of the age groups specified for the scheme and in respect of whom a child dependant allowance is payable.
The means test takes account of any income over and above the appropriate rate of widow's and widowers contributory pension plus £5 where the guardian is single, and contributory old age pension plus £5 where the guardian is one of a couple. Where the income of a household exceeds these limits, the back to school clothing and footwear allowance is not payable. Applications for assistance from those who do not qualify for payment under the scheme may be considered by the health board for an exceptional needs payment – ENP. 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. ENPs are payable at the discretion of the health board taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.
I have no immediate plans to relax the means test provisions for recently widowed parents who take up part-time employment. The income limits for the allowance are based on social welfare payments and are automatically raised each year in line with the budgetary increases. Any changes in the scheme would have to have regard to the position of other families on lower incomes who do not qualify for such a payment on the grounds of excess means. The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme will be reviewed during 1999 as part of my Department's series of programme expenditure evaluations. The review will examine all aspects of the scheme including the income limits and means test. Any changes recommended in the review of the scheme will be considered in the context of the budget.
Bernard Allen
Question:217 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in Cork, who was 66 in January 1999, only received the free electricity units from 5 February 1999; and the reason he should not get it from the billing period during which he reached his 66th birthday rather than on the next billing period which resulted in his losing one month's free electricity. [13480/99]
Under the conditions of the free electricity allowance scheme, which is non-statutory, the allowance is applied in all cases from the start of the next complete billing period following the date on which the conditions are satisfied. Similarly at the end of a claim, the allowance is applied for the full billing period in which entitlement ceases. There are no plans to alter these arrangements. The person concerned has received his correct entitlement under the terms of the scheme.
Gay Mitchell
Question:218 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will publish one application form for all schemes administered by his Department in order that applicants will receive a detailed answer stating their entitlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13499/99]
The social welfare system includes a variety of schemes, each of which was designed to support people at various stages of their lives or when certain contingencies arise. It has been the practice to have a separate application form for each scheme type, designed to elicit concise information needed to determine entitlement to the specific payment most appropriate to the needs and circumstances of the applicant. While the basic information required to identify the applicant and, where necessary, to locate the appropriate PRSI record, is common to all schemes, the specific information required to determine entitlement to the most appropriate scheme type can differ significantly from scheme to scheme.
Applications for disability benefit, for example, are made on a combined application form, also completed by a medical practitioner who certifies the nature of the illness involved. Unemployment payment claims, on the other hand, are usually completed during a visit to one of the Department's local offices and the information required relates strictly to the employment position of the applicant. Other application procedures will differ in respect of the nature of the information required, for example, those involving a means test will require details which would not be relevant in the case of contributory schemes based on the persons PRSI record. It is considered that, given the wide range of social insurance, social assistance and other types of benefits available, a single unified application form would be unduly complicated from the customers' point of view.
However, I note the Deputy's point that applicants contacting my Department should be provided with detailed information on their full entitlements and not solely in relation to the specific benefit type on which the initial application may be based. My Department is committed to delivering quality customer service and to ensuring continuous improvements in the standards of service it provides. A number of initiatives have been introduced in recent years aimed at improving the quality of our service to the public. These include establishing customer panels where customers meet officials regarding their needs and concerns in the area of customer service delivery, and developing a code of practice for form and leaflet design in consultation with customers and their representative organisations. Other improvements include a more widespread use of information technology to meet the needs of customers at local level and to help minimise the difficulties encountered by people wishing to access their entitlements under the broad range of schemes and supports administered by my Department.
Seán Haughey
Question:220 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if the free travel scheme will be extended to old age pensioners who have to attend early hospital appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13553/99]
The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over, as well as to certain people with disabilities under that age who are in receipt of certain social welfare type payments. It is also available to carers in receipt of carer's allowance and from last April free travel is available to carers of people in receipt of a constant attendance allowance or prescribed relatives allowance. The scheme provides free travel, primarily at off-peak periods, to eligible people on the main public and private transport services. The full year cost of free travel scheme for 1999 is approximately £34.5 million and at the end of March 1999, over 537,000 free travel passes had been issued. Time restrictions have been a feature of the free travel scheme since its inception in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. They do not, however, apply in the case of mentally-handicapped people, people attending long-term rehabilitation courses or certain work experience programmes and certain other disabled or blind people. These people are issued with an unrestricted free travel pass which enables them to travel during the normally restricted travel times.
The central issue in regard to time restrictions relates to capacity constraints. Time restrictions have been put in place because the transport companies concerned are under severe pressure from commuters travelling to and from work and school in the morning and evening. There are no peak time travel restrictions on DART or suburban rail services provided by CIE and private transport operators in other parts of the country.
The free schemes were originally designed to benefit mainly older people in receipt of a social welfare type payment who were living alone and required additional assistance. However, over the years, additional categories of people have been included.
A fundamental review of the free schemes, including the free travel scheme, is currently being undertaken by an officer on secondment to the Policy Institute, TCD. The purpose of the review is to assess whether the objectives of these schemes are being achieved in the most efficient and effective manner. It is expected that the review will be published by the institute in October-November this year. The conclusions of the review will then be considered in a budgetary context, as appropriate.
Brian O'Shea
Question:221 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the proposals, if any, he has to increase substantially the widow's pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13596/99]
The widow's and widower's pension schemes recognise the particular financial difficulties that arise for people following the death of a spouse. A widow(er)'s (contributory) pension is based on either the claimant's own or late spouse's social insurance record. In addition, a person may use the full record or the record over the previous three or five years to satisfy the yearly average condition. From June, the weekly rate of the widow(er)'s (contributory) pension, £82.10 per week for those over 66 and under 80 years of age, will be 114 per cent of the main rate recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare.
A widow's and widower's (non-contributory) pension is available to those, without children, who do not qualify for the contributory pension. This is payable subject to a means test. From June, the maximum rate of the widow(er)'s (non-contributory) pension, at £78.50 for those over 66 and under 80 years of age, will be 109 per cent of the commission's recommended rate. Title to these pensions also gives access to the free schemes, where appropriate. Special measures are in place to ensure that households do not suffer the loss of entitlements following the death of a spouse. Widows/widowers aged from 60 to 65 whose late spouses had been in receipt of the free schemes retain that entitlement. The question of future improvements in social welfare provisions for widows and widowers – as for all social welfare clients – is a matter for consideration by the Government in a budgetary context.
Proinsias De Rossa
Question:223 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in Dublin 11 has not received a reply to her query regarding maternity benefit submitted to his Department on 15 March 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13858/99]
An application for maternity benefit from the person concerned was received by my Department on 11 February 1999. In order to qualify for maternity benefit certain PRSI contribution conditions must be satisfied. Based on her social insurance record she has insufficient contributions to qualify for maternity benefit. Her application was, accordingly, refused by a deciding officer and she was notified of this decision and the reasons for it on 1 March 1999. Representations subsequently received from the Deputy raised an important issue in the case which required careful consideration. The points raised in these representations have now been fully considered and a full reply has been issued to the Deputy.