Vol. 527 No. 2
119 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will introduce a voucher scheme similar to that operated in New Zealand for people with disabilities in order to increase their mobility particularly in rural areas. [28042/00]
121 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will list the free schemes to which retired civil servants under the age of 75 are entitled. [28044/00]
130 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he has provided in his estimates for any changes in the eligibility conditions for free schemes; and the existing conditions and the proposed changes in this regard. [28140/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 119, 121 and 130 together.
The free travel scheme is available to all people resident in the State aged 66 years or over. The other free schemes, including the free electricity-gas allowance, free telephone rental allowance and free Television Licence schemes, are generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who pass a means test. They are also available to carers and people with disabilities under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments.
120 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when rent support will be restored to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who has a dependent child, unpaid rent and the threat of eviction; if full lone parent family allowance has been terminated; if alternative means of subsistence can be offered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28043/00]
The supplementary welfare allowance – SWA – scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of rent payable to persons in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and my Department has no function in deciding entitlement in individual cases.
The purpose of rent supplements is to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible persons living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source.
The person concerned received a rent supplement up to the end of September. Their rent supplement was suspended from that date as their claim was under investigation. A letter was issued on 20 November 2000 to the person concerned stating that their rent supplement was being reviewed and requesting them to contact the community welfare officer – CWO. No response has been received by the CWO to date.
The person concerned is currently in receipt of one-parent family payment of £100.70 per week which is the maximum rate payable to a person with one dependent child. This total includes a fuel allowance payment of £8 per week. Their entitlement to one-parent family payment is currently under review as a social welfare inspector has reported that the person is cohabiting.
122 Ms McGennis asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if arrangements for social welfare recipients wishing to have their benefits paid directly to a bank account involve recipients missing payment for one week; and, if he will revise the procedures to remove this unacceptable practice in this regard. [28083/00]
Pensions and other long-term social welfare payments have traditionally been paid by payable order books which are encashable on a weekly basis at post offices. Payment can also be made, at the person's choice, by electronic fund transfer, EFT, direct to bank accounts.
Payment of pensions by EFT is generally made every two weeks in arrears. Other benefits are generally paid by EFT weekly in arrears, other than child benefit which is paid monthly in advance. Most people who opt to be paid by EFT do so at new claim stage so there is no interruption of the flow of payments once the claim is allowed. Where an existing recipient opts to switch from pension book to EFT, the different payment cycle may result in an interruption in payment. However, each person, regardless of the payment method, receives the same quantum of payments over the lifetime of his/her claim; the difference is one of timing only.
The question of aligning payment frequencies is under consideration but due to other pressing demands on available resources it may not be possible to accommodate this change for some time. However, people who opt to have their payments changed to EFT are made fully aware of the different payment cycles.
123 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when a person (details supplied) in County Kildare will receive one parent family allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28084/00]
The person concerned was interviewed in July 2000 in connection with her application for one-parent family payment and was requested to supply a P45 statement from her last employer, a statement of mortgage from her local authority and information relating to a bank loan, in order to determine her means situation. Reminders were issued to her in August and again in September. She was also requested to provide documentary evidence of her efforts to obtain maintenance from her spouse, who is in employment. In this regard a maintenance summons can be issued by a District Court clerk at no cost to her.
Two of the requested documents have now been received by the Department. However the deciding officer still requires details of the bank loan and of the efforts by the person concerned to obtain maintenance from her spouse.
As the person concerned has not provided all the necessary documentation, the decision in September 2000 to disallow her claim for one-parent family payment still stands. Her claim will be reviewed as soon as she supplies the outstanding information required.
124 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will now give a comprehensive reply to Parliamentary Question No. 313 of 21 November 2000; and the reason no response issued in this specific query. [28131/00]
To qualify for an unemployment payment a person must demonstrate, to the satisfaction of a deciding officer, that he-she is available for and making genuine efforts to return to work. The onus is clearly on the applicant to demonstrate this.
As indicated in the reply to the previous question in this case, any efforts the person has made to obtain any employment, whether in the immediate locality or otherwise, to avail of services such as FÁS or local employment service, or to access any training available, will be taken into account by the deciding officer when deciding the case.
A deciding officer will also take into account the economic environment and employment opportunities available, not only the immediate area or town, but in the wider community. However, deciding officers are not required to refer claimants to specific employment opportunities, nor could their decisions be conditional on them being in a position to do so.
125 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he has provision in his estimates to alter the terms or conditions for the back to education scheme; the existing conditions in this regard; and the new conditions which are being provided for in the estimates. [28135/00]
The back to education allowance is a second chance educational opportunities programme designed to encourage and facilitate certain groups who are receiving social welfare payments to improve their skills and qualifications and, therefore, their prospects of returning to the active work force.
To qualify for participation an applicant must be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment for at least six months, 156 days, and be at least 21 years of age, 18 years of age for people with
disabilities, immediately prior to commencing the first year of an approved course of study.
There is no provision in the estimates to alter the qualifying conditions for access to this programme. However it is intended to carry out an independent comprehensive evaluation of the scheme next year. This will form the basis for any future changes in the scheme.
126 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the amount of fuel allowance which is payable to persons in receipt of the family income supplement in areas where there is a ban of smoky fuel. [28136/00]
The aim of the national fuel scheme is to assist householders who are on long-term social welfare or health board payments and who are unable to provide for their own heating needs. A payment of £5 per week is paid to eligible households for 26 weeks from mid October to mid April. This is increased to £8 per week for those living in areas designated as smokeless zones.
The conditions that apply to the national fuel scheme require that a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment, satisfy a means test and satisfy the living alone condition.
The qualifying payments are mainly long-term payments such as long-term unemployment assistance, pensions and one parent family payment – OFP. Participants of employment programmes can also retain a fuel allowance as part of their secondary benefits.
Recipients of family income supplement – FIS – who are living in areas designated as smokeless zones and who have a social welfare payment, for example, OFP will receive the £8 fuel allowance.
FIS recipients who are not receiving a social welfare payment will receive £3. Participants on some employment programmes who qualify for FIS and who had a fuel allowance prior to participation in the programme will retain the £8, subject to certain conditions as part of their secondary benefits.
127 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he has provided in his estimates for any changes in the circumstances in which people can retain secondary benefits, for example, back to work, back to education and community employment schemes; the existing conditions in this regard; and the pro posed changes envisaged in the estimates. [28137/00]
Under the current arrangements, persons who avail of the back-to-work allowance and back to education scheme may retain their secondary benefits, at the level which obtained prior to participation in the scheme, subject to a weekly gross household income limit of £250. The retention of the medical card is not affected by the operation of the limit. These arrangements also apply to other labour market programmes, including the community employment scheme, which is the responsibility of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Budget 2000 provided for two important improvements in these arrangements. First, the back-to-work allowance payments and family income supplement payments are no longer taken into account for the purposes of the weekly £250 gross household income limit. Second, the maximum rent supplement payment of £250 per month has been abolished in favour of a tapered withdrawal of the supplement over a four-year period, with 75% of the claimant's previous entitlement being paid in the first year of participation in the scheme, and 50%, 25% and 25% being paid in the subsequent three years. These measures were introduced with effect from last April.
I assume the Deputy is referring to the recently published abridged estimates for 2001. These estimates are based on the current position as outlined above. It would not be normal practice for improvements to be reflected in the estimates, as decisions relating to any such changes are taken in the context of the budget.
128 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he has provided in his estimates for any change in the circumstances in which rent or mortgage supplement is paid, for example, in respect of the income disregard, the minimum contribution towards the rent, or the treatment of tax and social insurance on earned income when means-testing; the existing conditions and the proposed changes in this regard. [28138/00]
The supplementary welfare allowance – SWA – scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of rent or mortgage interest to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs.
129 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he has provided in his estimates for any changes in the eligibility conditions for treatment benefit or in the charges for different procedures undertaken; the existing conditions and existing charges in this regard; and the proposed changes planned in the estimates. [28139/00]
The treatment benefit scheme operated by my Department provides a range of benefits in the areas of dental, optical and aural treatment for qualified PRSI contributors and their dependent spouses.
The PRSI contribution conditions for entitlement to treatment benefits vary depending on the age of the insured person but are generally in line with those applying to other contributory benefit schemes. Persons must also have been insurably employed and paid appropriate rates of PRSI for a certain length of time.
Persons aged under 21 years of age must have at least 39 weeks PRSI paid since first starting work in order to qualify while persons aged from 21 to 24 years of age must have at least 39 weeks PRSI paid since first starting work and 39 weeks paid or credited in the relevant tax year of which a minimum of 13 weeks must be paid contributions.
In the case of persons aged from 25 to 65 years of age the requirement is that they have at least 260 weeks PRSI paid since first starting work and 39 weeks PRSI paid or credited in the relevant tax year of which a minimum of 13 weeks must be paid contributions.
There is no provision in my Department's Estimates for 2001 for any changes in the eligibility conditions for treatment benefit or in the treatment schedule and scale of fees for both dental and optical procedures.
131 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when the one parent family allowance will be restored to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who has three children and no means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28149/00]
The claim of the person concerned was reviewed by the Department earlier this year. She was written to in August in relation to queries arising from this review, relating to possible cohabitation. When she failed to respond, her payment was suspended in November.
In the circumstance of this case, one-parent family payment has been restored at the weekly rate of £131.10 on interim basis with effect from 16 November 2000. The payment will be available in her local post office on Friday 1 December.
The Department will issue a further letter to the person concerned shortly reminding her of her obligation to respond to the matters queried, and a final decision will be made on her claim in the light of her response.
132 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason unemployment assistance payment has not been made to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare in view of the fact that he has submitted six applications for jobs for which he was unsuccessful; if it is recognised that he has no transport or means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28150/00]
The person concerned was in receipt of unemployment assistance from January 1999. Payment was suspended in May 2000 on the basis that he was not genuinely seeking work. On 24 August 2000 a social welfare appeals officer found that the person concerned was not genuinely seeking work and did not have an entitlement to unemployment assistance.
The person concerned made a further application for unemployment assistance on 4 October 2000. This application was disallowed on the grounds that the applicant was not genuinely seeking work. Documentary evidence of recent unsuccessful efforts to get work, and other relevant factors including transport needs were taken into account. However, the applicant refused to accept an offer of suitable employment within his locality which was found and notified to him by FÁS.
A form to enable the applicant to make a new appeal to the social welfare appeals office has now been issued.
