Vol. 515 No. 6
219 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will extend the use of the free travel pass to include taxis in view of the fact CIE is not providing adequate service in a lot of rural areas and taxis would be able to fill the gap. [6878/00]
224 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the terms of reference of the review of the free schemes under way in his Department; if outside bodies are being included within the review; and if the recommendations of the review will be available in time for Committee or Report Stage amendments to the Social Welfare Bill, 2000. [6961/00]
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 219 and 224 together.
The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years, or over, and to all carers in receipt of carer's allowance and to carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance. It is also available to certain people with disabilities and people who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments.
The scheme provides free travel on a range of services provided by the CIE group of companies as well as on the services provided by over 70 private transport operators. The vast majority of these private contractors operate in rural areas.
My Department is always willing to consider further applications from licensed private transport operators who may wish to participate in the free travel scheme.
As the Deputies are aware, a fundamental review of the free schemes of this Department was undertaken to assess whether the objectives of these schemes were being achieved in the most efficient and effective manner. This included an examination of the qualifying conditions for the schemes, the target groups and the scope for alternative policy arrangements. The issue of extending the free travel scheme to cover taxi journeys is examined in the review which is now being finalised.
The terms of reference of the review cover the following issues. What are the objectives of the free schemes? Is there a rationale for public expenditure on these schemes? Has each scheme achieved its objective in an efficient manner? What are the customers' views of each scheme? Is there a rationale for extending these schemes? What are the costs and payment arrangements for the services provided under the schemes? Is there scope for alternative operational arrangements?
The review was carried out by an official of my Department on secondment, as a visiting research fellow at the Policy Institute, Trinity College, Dublin. It involved a series of meetings held with the free schemes service providers, the staff of my Department, other Departments and agencies and a wide variety of voluntary groups, interest groups and private individuals. The report is due to be published by the Policy Institute in the "Trinity Studies in Public Policy" series later this month.
In anticipation of the review findings, I announced two specific measures in budget 2000. These are the extension of the free schemes to all persons aged 75 years and over, regardless of their income and household composition, and the extension of the free electricity allowance and free television licence to all carers in receipt of the carer's allowance and to carers who are caring for people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relatives allowance. Both of these measures will be implemented from October 2000 at an estimated full year cost of £6 million.
220 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of carers in receipt of payment; the number of persons deemed to be in need of care and whose carers do not receive payment; the plans, if any, he has to extend this allowance to meet requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6906/00]
The carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people who are providing certain elderly or incapacitated persons with full-time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a certain limit. At the end of February 2000, there were 14,949 carer's allowances in payment. This represents an increase of more than 60% in the number of carers claiming the allowance since this Government took office. Expenditure on carer's allowance was £36.5 million in 1997 and is projected to be £78.3 million this year, representing an increase of 115% since this Government took office.
The review of the carer's allowance, which was published in October 1998, noted that it is difficult to estimate the number of full-time carers in the country. While care groups have estimated this figure to be around 100,000 carers, it is not clear that all of these are full-time carers. Based on work in the review, the current figure is estimated to be around 50,000 people covering carers of older people and adults and children with disabilities.
I announced in budget 2000 the introduction of the new carer's benefit scheme which recognises that leaving employment to provide care is a contingency broadly similar to other contingencies under the social insurance code and, as such, the benefit will fill a gap in the social insurance system.
The new carer's benefit scheme is specifically intended to support people who must leave the workforce to care for someone who is in need of full-time care and attention. The scheme involves two central elements. The first is a weekly income support payment to be operated and paid by my Department. This will be based on PRSI contributions paid by the carer. The second is the protection of the carer's employment rights for the duration of the caring period. The carer's benefit scheme will come into effect from October this year.
