Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
Brian O'Shea
Question:
62
Mr. O'Shea
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
the entitlement to mortgage and rent supplement of people on jobs initiative and community employment schemes; if recent changes to the supplements have impacted on these people; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10526/01]
The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and neither I nor my Department have any function in deciding entitlement in individual cases. Under the terms of the SWA scheme, payment of a weekly or monthly supplement may be made in respect of rent or mortgage interest to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs.
Supplementary welfare allowance is subject to a means test. Rent supplements are normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to their family circumstances, less £6. This £6 represents the minimum contribution which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Most recipients pay more than £6 towards their rent because applicants are required to contribute any additional assessable means that they have over and above the appro priate basic supplementary welfare allowance rate towards their rent.
People on approved schemes such as those mentioned by the Deputy can retain part of their rent or mortgage interest supplement, subject to a gross household income limit of £250 per week and certain other conditions. Following discussions with the social partners under Partnership 2000, substantial improvements in the conditions relating to the retention of rent and mortgage interest supplements were introduced from 6 April 2000.
The £250 per month limit on the amount of rent supplement payable was abolished and the sharp withdrawal of support at the end of the third year was removed, the supplement now being withdrawn on a tapered basis over a four year period, that is, 75% in year one, 50% in year two and 25% in years three and four. As a result, many participants in community employment (CE) schemes now retain a greater amount of rent supplement than they would have done under the earlier arrangements. This is particularly the case for families.
In no circumstances do the new rules result in a lower rate of rent supplement than is payable under the standard rules of supplementary welfare allowance. All CE recipients are entitled to either the gradually reducing amount that can be retained under the transitional arrangements described above or the amount that is normally paid under the standard rules of supplementary welfare allowance described earlier, whichever is the greater.
Eligibility to retain entitlement to rent and mortgage interest supplement was also extended to job initiative participants. Claims for retention of rent and mortgage interest supplement that were rejected because the claimant was participating in the job initiative scheme were reviewed and put into payment with effect from 6 April 2000 subject to the relevant conditions being met.
The conditions for receiving and retaining rent and mortgage interest supplement will be examined as part of the review of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is being undertaken as part of my Department's series of formal programme evaluations.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:
63
Mr. Durkan
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
if he will extend the carer's allowance to cater for the increasing number of people who are caring for relatives who might otherwise require hospitalisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10527/01]
Ivor Callely
Question:
65
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
his understanding of the rights and needs of family carers; the total number of people in receipt of a carer's payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10356/01]
Jim O'Keeffe
Question:
69
Mr. J. O'Keeffe
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
whether the limited definition of carer as those who are providing full time care and attention for persons who are medically assessed as having such a serious disability that they require care for at least 12 months is too restrictive and excludes many genuine carers; and if he will review the situation.
[10492/01]
Ivor Callely
Question:
223
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
the progress that has been made to increase the value of the carer's allowance in real terms; the additional measures that may be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10365/01]
Brendan Howlin
Question:
231
Mr. Howlin
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
the implications for recipients of carer's allowance in terms of continuity of entitlement and rates of payment where the persons to whom they provide care are granted permission by his Department to undertake employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10512/01]
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:
236
Mr. Durkan
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
the total number of persons in receipt of carer's allowance; the estimated total number of carers; his plans to extend availability of the allowance to the wider group; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10748/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 63, 65, 69, 223, 231 and 236 together.
The carer's allowance is a means tested payment for carers on low income who look after people in need of full-time care and attention. 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. Based on the research carried out in the review, the current number of full-time carers is estimated to be 50,000 people, covering carers of older people and adults and children with disabilities.
At the end of March 2001, there were 16,854 carers in receipt of carer's allowance. These figures show that 34% of full-time carers are in receipt of carer's allowance which is an increase of 83% in the number of carers in receipt of the allowance since the Government took office. This large increase is reflected in the expenditure on carer's allowance, which was £36.5 million in 1997 and is projected to be £108.4 million this year, representing an increase of almost 200%.
In the budget for 2001, in addition to substantial rate increases, I also announced a number of other measures to support carers. In particular, I made provision for a substantial increase from this month in the income disregards in the carer's allowance means test from £75 to £125 for a single person and from £150 to £250 for a couple. It is estimated that this will enable more than 5,000 new carers to qualify for carer's allowance and almost 3,000 existing carers to receive an increased payment. The effect of this increase will ensure that a couple with two children earning a joint income in the region of £15,100 will qualify for the maximum rate of carer's allowance while a couple earning up to £26,000 will qualify for the minimum carer's allowance plus the free schemes and respite care grant in each case.
The means test applied to the carer's allowance is one of the more flexible tests in terms of the assessment of household incomes. The income disregards I have introduced already exceed the income limits for the minimum wage rate for joint income households and ensure that carers receive a maximum allowance. This improvement represents another move towards what I consider to be the optimum situation, which is that all carers whose joint family income is at average industrial earnings will qualify for carer's allowance at the maximum rate. It is estimated that in the region of £180 million would be required per annum to abolish the means test and pay the basic maximum rate carer's allowance to the estimated 33,000 carers who are not in receipt of a carer's allowance. Given the many supports required by carers, particularly in the community care and respite care areas, I do not consider the complete abolition of the means test to be the best way to support carers or the best use of resources, but I will keep the issue under review.
The review considered that the objectives of the carer's allowance scheme are designed for full-time carers and that part-time caring situations were not therefore covered by these objectives. The rationale underlying the full-time care and attention requirement for carer's allowance is to ensure that the care recipient, who has been medically certified as being in need of full-time care and attention for more than 12 months, actually receives this care and attention. However, in practice, many carers care for less than 12 months because the care recipient may move into institutional care or may die. Care recipients may attend approved rehabilitation courses and may attend educational or training courses or participate in voluntary or community based activities without affecting the allowance payable to the carer. In situations where the care recipient engages in rehabilitative employment, each application is assessed on a case by case basis.
The review addressed the issues of differing care needs and it proposed the introduction of a non-means tested continual care payment to recognise carers providing the highest levels of care and to promote care in the community. It envisaged that this payment would be made, irrespective of income or social welfare entitlement, to carers caring for those who are in the highest category of dependency. To differentiate between the levels of care and care needs, the review considered that a needs assessment encompassing both the needs of the care recipient and the carer should be introduced, and that the continual care payment could be introduced following the introduction of such an assessment. It was considered that a needs assessment would separate care needs from income support needs and could be used by all State organisations which provide reliefs or grants to those in need of care.
Establishing a pilot system of needs assessment for carers and people needing care was identified as a priority in the Government's review of its action programme. This area is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children. Government policy is strongly in favour of supporting care in the community and enabling people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. However, the State cannot and would not wish to replace the personal support and care provided within the family and the community. Therefore, its primary role is to provide adequate support to carers and to those for whom they are caring to enable them to remain in their own communities.
The development of the range of supports for carers will continue to be a priority for this Government and, building on the foundations now in place, we will continue to develop the types of services which recognise the value of the caring ethos and which provide real support and practical assistance to people who devote their time to improving the quality of life for others. The question of further improvements to the carer's allowance and for carers generally will be considered in a budgetary context taking account of our key priorities in the care area as set out in the review of our action programme.
Question No. 64 answered with Question No. 54.
Question No. 65 answered with Question No. 63.
Question No. 66 answered with Question No. 54.
Trevor Sargent
Question:
67
Mr. Sargent
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
if he will remove the rule which disqualifies a widow from receiving a widow's pension if such a widow receives a payment to care for a child with a disability.
[10466/01]
It is assumed that the Deputy is referring to the situation whereby a person in receipt of a widow's pension cannot receive carer's allowance at the same time.
The primary objective of the social welfare system is to provide income support and, as a general rule, only one social welfare payment is payable to an individual at any given time. This is designed to ensure that limited resources are not used to make two income support payments to any one individual.
The review of the carer's allowance published in October 1998 examined the question of paying the carer's allowance in conjunction with another social welfare payment. The review noted that the allowance is an income support and not a payment for caring. It concluded that the practice of paying only one allowance should continue. A person qualifying for two social welfare payments will always receive whichever payment is most beneficial.
The position with regard to social welfare provision for widowed people and carers will be kept under review in the context of overall budgetary considerations.
