Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Oct 2001

Vol. 541 No. 2

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Payments.

Gay Mitchell

Question:

803 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason the disablement section of his Department is unable to make payments by electronic transfer methods; when he expects it will be possible for payments to be made in this manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21643/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

Disablement benefit is payable to persons who have sustained an occupational injury or prescribed occupational disease. It is paid in addition to primary income support payments such as disability benefit, invalidity pension and to persons who may have returned to employment.

Disablement benefit recipients are currently paid by cheque. While there is no current facility for the payment of this benefit by electronic fund transfer, an alternative facility exists whereby a cheque can be issued to a customer's bank where it is lodged directly into their account. Currently there are 500 of a total of 12,000 customers who avail of this particular payment method.

My overall aim is to ensure that the most modern and widest range of payment methods are available to my Department's customers and to provide access to new services and facilities as they become available in the money transmission market so as to ensure that my Department's customers can choose the service which best suits their personal needs and preferences.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

804 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the position regarding the payment of rent support to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21645/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

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. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and neither I nor my Department have any function in deciding individual cases.

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 people 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 South-Western Area Health Board was contacted on behalf of the person concerned and has advised that he is in receipt of the maximum amount of rent supplement payable to someone in his circumstances. Details of how the amount of rent supplement in payment was calculated are shown in the following tabular statement.

	£
Applicant income	101.50
Spouse income inclusive of £25 part time
disregard	80.00
Household income	181.50
less SWA rate	138.00
Means in excess of SWA rate	43.50
Plus minimum contribution	6.00
Applicant's rent contribution	49.50
Maximum weekly rent payable	126.00
less applicant's contribution	49.50
Rent supplement payable	76.50

£76.50 per week equates to £331.50 per month.

Question No. 805 answered with Question No. 768.

Michael Ring

Question:

806 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when an application by a person (details supplied) in County Mayo for a living alone allowance will be approved. [21650/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

An application for living alone allowance for the person concerned, together with representations from the Deputy were received on 30 July 2001. Following completion of the necessary enquiries, a living alone allowance of £6 per week has been awarded to him with effect from 27 July 2001. A fuel allowance of £5 a week has also been awarded to him, payable from the start of the heating season in October 2001. A payment order book containing these allowances has been issued to the person's nominated post office for collection by him. 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.

Question No. 807 answered with Question No. 762.

Michael Bell

Question:

808 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans he has to rectify the anomaly which exists in the qualification for the back to school clothing and footwear allowance where the income limit for some categories of applicant is £250 and in other categories is less than £250; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21792/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

The back to school clothing and footwear – BSCF – allowance scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards in parallel with the supplementary welfare allowance or SWA scheme. The scheme is designed to assist certain recipients of social welfare and health board payments with the cost of children's school uniforms and footwear. The scheme operates from the beginning of June to the end of September each year. An allowance of £63 is payable in respect of qualified children from two to 11 years and an allowance of £78 is payable in respect of qualified children from 12 to 22 years.

A person may qualify for payment of the BSCF allowance if they are in receipt of a social welfare or health board payment or participating in an approved employment scheme or attending a recognised education and training course and have household income at or below certain prescribed levels. Details of the income levels, which vary depending on the composition of the household, are shown in the attached tabular statement.

The income limit of £250 to which the Deputy refers applies only to people making the transition from welfare to work through employment or education schemes, such as the back to work allowance. The same income limit applies in these cases to a number of secondary benefits such as BSCF and rent supplement. The objective is to give people an incentive to take up places on such schemes and to remove the difficulty that some people lost entitlement to the BSCF allowance when they took up such places. It was necessary to ease the means test in these cases to ensure that people are to be better off working than on social welfare. The means test for the BSCF allowance is being examined in a review of the scheme being undertaken as part of my Department's series of programme evaluations. The review is examining all aspects of the scheme including the rates of payment as well the means test, time of payment, the eligibility criteria and other issues. I am expecting delivery of the group's final report shortly. Any recommendations for changes in the operation of the the scheme will have to be considered in a budgetary context.

Income limits for various household sizes are as follows:

Household size	Income Limit
Couple with 1 child	£194.40 per week
Couple with 2 children	£209.60 per week
Couple with 3 children	£224.80 per week
Couple with 4 children	£240.00 per week

Limit is increased by £15.20 per week for each additional child

Lone Parent with 1 child	£124.00 per week
Lone Parent with 2 children	£141.00 per week
Lone Parent with 3 children	£158.00 per week
Lone Parent with 4 children	£175.00 per week

Limit is increased by £17 per week for each additional child.

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

809 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if applicants for unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance in the Cork area are being refused on the basis that they have not replied to jobs advertised in the national papers; his views on whether such a course of action on the part of his Department if entirely unfair; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21812/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

To qualify for unemployment benefit or assistance a person must be unemployed, available for, capable of and genuinely seeking employment. To satisfy the deciding officer that he or she is genuinely seeking employment, an applicant is expected to take reasonable steps which are regarded as offering the best prospect of obtaining employment. This may be done by registering with FÁS, writing to employers, answering advertisments including advertisments in the local or regional papers.

The location of any prospective employment and the level of qualifications which might be required would be taken into account in determining whether it is reasonable for a person not to apply or make themselves available for particular jobs. The Department is concerned at all times to treat claimants fairly and reasonably having regard to their circumstances. Where, however, a deciding officer is not satisfied that a person is genuinely seeking work then the claim would be disallowed on those grounds.

If the applicant is dissatisfied with the decision of the deciding officer it is open to him/her to appeal to the social welfare appeals office. All applicants and claimants for unemployment benefit or assistance are required to satisfy all conditions for receipt of payment, and those in the Cork area are not treated any differently to other claimants in that regard.

Michael Ring

Question:

810 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo is not in receipt of the free telephone scheme. [21814/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

The free schemes share a common set of objectives in the area of social inclusion. These are as follows: to provide assistance to those living alone by targeting them with specific benefits providing both income and social inclusion gains; to support older people and people with disabilities in their wish to remain in the community as opposed to institutional care; and to support government policy which seeks to acknowledge the value of older people in society. The original objective of the telephone allowance was to provide an element of protection and security in their own homes for older people and people with disabilities who were either living alone or with people who would be unable to summon help in an emergency. A secondary objective of the scheme was to encourage social contact and to assist in the prevention of social isolation for those living alone.

The free schemes act as an important support to encouraging care in the community. The proposal to extend telephone allowance to pensioners resident in nursing homes does not fit easily within the community care objectives of these schemes. Persons resident in nursing homes may already be in receipt of State support, either through the public health system or through a nursing home subvention. In addition, those living in nursing homes and other residential institutions have daily support and contact with other residents and nursing staff.

The person concerned applied for a telephone allowance on two occasions but was refused as she resides in a nursing home. The current arrangements for the free schemes are kept under review in a budgetary context.

Tony Gregory

Question:

811 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will review the entitlement to disability benefit of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 3. [21815/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

The person concerned claimed disability benefit from 23 July 2001. To qualify for payment of disability benefit a person must have at least 39 paid or credited reckonable contributions in the governing contribution year, which in this case is 1999-2000. The records of the Department show she has 18 paid and ten credited contributions in that year.

She attended university by taking leave of absence from her place of employment for a period of 11 weeks during the 1999-2000 year. However, there is no provision in the legislation for awarding credited contributions for attendance at full-time education in the circumstances of this case.