Vol. 538 No. 5
138 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when a decision on an application for support toward electricity payment will be made in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18462/01]
Legislation governing the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme which is administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department allows health boards to make a single payment to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. These payments are known as exceptional needs payments. There is no automatic entitlement to an ENP. Payment of ENPs are made at the discretion of the health boards and neither I nor my Department have any function in deciding individual cases.
The principle consideration in paying an ENP to address a particular need is that the need is of an exceptional nature. Payments should arise only under abnormal conditions and should not become a regular or standard practice.
In general, assistance with fuel bills is carried out in accordance with an agreed code of practice drawn up between the health board community welfare staff, the ESB and Bord Gáis. If clearly identifiable exceptional circumstances exist an ENP may be made at the discretion of the health board.
However, where a more long-term solution is required the applicant is required, in the first instance, to contact the utility supplier and set up a repayment agreement which takes account of the customer's income and general circumstances. The health boards will assist in setting up this type of repayment agreement.
The South-Western Area Health Board, SWAHB, has been contacted on behalf of the person concerned and has advised that while the board has in the past assisted him with electricity expenses the community welfare officer, CWO, refused his latest application because he feels that the person concerned has not made sufficient efforts to pay his recent electricity bills.
The SWAHB further advised that the person concerned has appealed the CWO's decision to the health board appeals officer.
139 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason women are not encouraged or allowed to sign on the live register for credits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18390/01]
Access to the live register is available to both men and women who satisfy the conditions for receipt of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance or who are entitled to sign for unemployment credited contributions.
The primary purpose of social welfare credits is to secure the PRSI entitlements of insured workers, who are temporarily outside the paid workforce for reasons such as unemployment, illness etc., in a manner which is consistent with the continued viability of the Social Insurance Fund. Where a person has no PRSI contributions paid or credited for more than two full contribution years, they are not allowed to claim credits until they return to work and pay PRSI contributions for at least 26 weeks. In view of the fact that the award of credits can give entitlement to a range of social insurance benefits, provided that a certain number of paid contributions have been made, I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it is necessary to have some limitations on such award.
An additional requirement which applies to the award of unemployment credited contributions is that the recipient is available for work. The condition "availability for work" requires that the person should be available for full-time work.
I might add that a separate arrangement exists to protect the long-term social insurance pensions of people, mainly women, who give up paid employment for periods of caring. From 6 April 1994, periods of time spent out of the workforce, including self employment caring either for children aged up to 12 years or incapacitated people are disregarded when calculating a person's pension entitlements. The maximum period which can be disregarded is 20 years. An examination of the homemaker's scheme is being undertaken as part of the review of eligibility conditions for old age contributory pensions and I expect to have a report later this year, which I will examine in a budgetary context.
140 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who has permanent employment which closes for the school summer holidays has been refused unemployment benefit; if this person's application for unemployment benefit will be approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18445/01]
The person concerned made a claim for unemployment benefit on 5 June 2001. To qualify for payment of unemployment benefit a person must, in addition to satisfying certain contribution conditions, satisfy the deciding officer that they are available for and genuinely seeking work. A standard questionnaire issued to the person concerned on 6 June 2001 requesting necessary details of her efforts in seeking work and other relevant information. The form has not been returned to the local office.
On receipt of all the necessary information a decision will be made on the claim and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome without delay.
Under social welfare legislation decisions in relation to claims must be made by deciding officers and appeals officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in regard to making such decisions.
141 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason mortgage assistance has not been paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18446/01]
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. In my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 310 which I answered for the Deputy on 29 May 2001 in relation to this particular case, I explained that the mortgage interest supplement had not been put in payment as the person concerned had not returned the application form to the local health centre.
The South-Western Area Health Board has been contacted again on behalf of the person concerned and has advised that the house in respect of which the claim has now been made is jointly owned by the person concerned and her ex-husband and both names appear on the mortgage agreement.
In order to finalise the application for mortgage interest supplement the community welfare officer, CWO, dealing with the case needs to know if the person concerned is repaying the mortgage herself or if her ex-husband is contributing to the costs involved as this will have a bearing on the amount of mortgage interest supplement payable. Confirmation of these details has been requested from the person concerned but remain outstanding. On receipt of the information requested, an assessment of the person's entitlement to the mortgage interest supplement will be made.
142 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the total number of families in receipt of rent assistance in lieu of re-housing throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18450/01]
The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of rent to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. There are currently 42,434 households in receipt of a rent supplement under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. Total spending on rent supplements is expected to reach £134 million this year.
Not all of these are in need of re-housing. In some cases, they have satisfactory accommodation that ordinarily they can afford but currently require income maintenance on a short-term basis only, for example, if they temporarily lose most of their income because of illness or short-term unemployment. However, there are significant numbers of people in vulnerable categories who are relying on rent supplement and whose needs may best be met in a social housing environment.
These include over 2,000 rent supplement recipients who are aged 65 years or more, over 4,000 who are receiving invalidity pension or disability allowance and others who rely on rent supplement on a long-term basis. A survey undertaken by the Department of the Environment and Local Government last year showed that the majority of new entrants to the SWA rent supplement scheme were in need of housing. Overall, the majority of recipients have been in receipt of rent supplement for more than one year.
As the Deputy may be aware, the Government has decided in principle to introduce a new scheme of private sector rent assistance. The new scheme will be operated by the local authorities.
One of the objectives of the new scheme will be to ensure that a full range of housing options is available to people with long-term housing needs, including those on local authority waiting lists who are renting in the private rented sector and who currently rely on SWA rent supplement. The new scheme will give the local authorities the extra option of private rented accommodation. In that regard, I understand that my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, will be bringing detailed proposals to Government shortly.
