John McGuinness
Question:161 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will arrange for supplementary welfare allowance to be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Carlow. [11240/01]
Written Answers - Social Welfare Benefits.
The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides entitlement to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs, subject to certain conditions prescribed in legislation. The scheme is administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department and neither I nor my Department has any function in deciding individual cases.
The legislation governing SWA requires that an individual has made an application for any benefit or assistance payment to which they may have an entitlement or that they have registered for work with FÁS if they are of working age.
The person concerned applied for unemployment assistance and while awaiting the outcome of this application sought assistance from the community welfare officer at the local health centre under the SWA scheme. A basic rate of SWA was put in payment. The application for UA was refused on the grounds that the individual was deemed not to be genuinely seeking work and this decision was upheld on appeal.
In such circumstances, the person concerned does not satisfy the qualification criteria for SWA because she is not making reasonable efforts to seek employment. Accordingly, payment of SWA will cease and the person will be required to reapply for unemployment assistance, as she is of working age.
John McGuinness
Question:162 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will investigate the rent allowance being paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny to determine if the allowance can be increased. [11245/01]
The supplementary welfare allowance 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. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and neither I nor my Department has any function in deciding 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. Supplements are normally calculated to ensure that the person after payment of rent or mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to the family circumstances, less £6. This £6 represents the minimum contribution which clients are required to pay from their own resources towards their accommodation cost. In addition to the minimum contribution, applicants are required to contribute any assessable means in excess of the appropriate SWA rate.
The person concerned is a lone parent with one child. She receives a one parent family payment of £100.70 and is paying £120 per week rent. The maximum reasonable rent limit for a lone parent with one child as set by the South Eastern Health Board is £90 per week. She had been in receipt of a rent supplement of £75.50 per week, which included a £5 per week deduction in respect of an overpayment. This rate was calculated by deducting the minimum contribution, £6, and her assessable means of £3.50, representing the difference between her OPFP payment and the appropriate rate of SWA, from the £90 rent limit.
A recent review of her rent supplement brought to light the fact that she has been in receipt of a reduced rate of unemployment benefit since 13 November 2000. This additional income was not declared to the community welfare officer and accordingly has resulted in an increased overpayment. Her rent supplement was recalculated to take account of her increased income and is now in payment at the rate of £38.80 per week. However the minimum contribution of £6 per week was inadvertently omitted in the recalculation. The current maximum amount of rent supplement payable in this case is £32.80 per week.
Sean Fleming
Question:163 Mr. Fleming asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of people in receipt of a long-term social welfare payment who are claiming child dependant allowance in respect of their children who are in full-time education and whose children are 18 years of age; 19 years of age; 20 years of age; 21 years of age; 22 years of age; and if he will consider extending child dependant allowance for one further year as a social inclusion measure; if he will estimate the number of claimants; the cost to the Exchequer in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11307/01]
An age breakdown of the number of children in respect of whom continued child dependant allowances are payable by virtue of their being engaged in full-time education is provided in Table 1.
Data on the number of recipients in receipt of long-term social welfare payments who are claiming continued CDAs in respect of children who remain in full-time education beyond 18 years are not readily available.
As the Deputy is no doubt aware, currently where a parent is receiving a pension or other long-term payment from my Department, CDAs are paid up to age 22 where the young person remains in full-time education. In the case of short-term payments, CDAs are only paid up to the age of 18. The Government has made a commitment to extend child dependant allowances to all social welfare recipients where the child is under 22 and in full-time education in the lifetime of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
The question of providing for the payment of continued CDAs for a further year is a matter for consideration in a budgetary context, having regard to available resources and competing priorities, including existing PPF commitments. It is estimated that it would cost an additional £1.2 million in a full year to extend, by a further year, the payment of continued CDAs to recipients of long-term social welfare payments who have children in full-time education. The proposed measure would benefit approximately 1,660 child dependants.
Table 1
Number of Children in Full-Time Education in Respect of whom continued CDA is Payable
|
Age |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
Total |
|
13,352 |
8,623 |
6,345 |
4,592 |
2,114 |
35,026 |