John McGuinness
Question:129 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will reassess the rent allowance payment being made to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [2990/02]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
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 my Department nor I has 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 €7.62. This €7.62 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 supplementary welfare allowance rate.
The South Eastern Health Board was contacted on behalf of the person concerned and has advised that following a change of address in October 2001 the person concerned applied for a rent supplement. A rent supplement of £22.50, €28.57, per week was put into payment with effect from 8 October. The amount of supplement in payment was reviewed and increased as a result of the recent budget changes. Details of how the amount of rent supplement in payment was calculated on each occasion are shown in the following tabular statement. The board has further advised that as of 14 January 2002 the person concerned was granted a local authority house and accordingly payment of the rent supplement ceased on that date.
The calculation of rent supplement is as follows:
|
Oct. 2001 |
Jan. 2002 |
|
|
£ |
€ |
|
|
Social welfare payment |
140.10 |
188.10 |
|
Maintenance |
50.00 |
63.49 |
|
Household income |
190.10 |
251.59 |
|
Less SWA rate |
123.60 |
169.20 |
|
Means in excess of SWA rate |
66.50 |
82.39 |
|
Plus minimum contribution |
6.00 |
7.62 |
|
Applicant's rent contribution |
72.50 |
90.01 |
|
Rent |
95.00 |
120.63 |
|
Less applicant's contribution |
72.50 |
90.01 |
|
Rent supplement payable |
22.50 |
30.62 |
Richard Bruton
Question:130 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the estimated proportion of families with incomes within the qualifying limits for family income supplement who fail to claim their entitlement. [3037/02]
It is not possible in the time available to undertake the type of detailed analysis which would be required to produce an estimate of the proportion of families with incomes within the family income supplement income limits who fail to claim their entitlement.
Research undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute in 1997, which was based on the results of the Living in Ireland Survey 1994, suggested that, at that time, fewer than one in three of potentially eligible claimants were in receipt of the payment. Since those with a higher entitlement are more likely to avail of the scheme the take-up in expenditure terms was estimated to be somewhat higher at between 35% and 38% of potential expenditure.
International research on schemes similar to FIS and the ESRI analysis have pointed to misconceptions of the scheme and lack of proper information as factors in low take-up levels. For example, people may not realise that FIS is not taxable and does not affect medical card entitlement.
In this regard, a number of measures have been actively pursued to ensure that families who may be unaware of their entitlement are identified. Such measures include an active media campaign at local and national level to advise customers of their entitlements. In addition, information on FIS is currently available on child benefit books, is provided to all one-parent families on award of one parent family allowance, is provided to all employers in PRSI mailshots from my Department and entitlement is considered for all applicants for the back to work allowance.
The improvements made to FIS over the years, together with the measures taken to increase awareness of the scheme, resulted in a steady increase in the level of take-up during the 1990s peaking at 14,686 families at the end of 1999. Since then, although income limits have been increased annually to take account of improvements in the rates in other social welfare payments, the numbers in receipt of FIS have declined somewhat because it probably reflects the fact that fewer people now require the supplement. This should be viewed as a positive trend and highlights the success of a range of Government measures which have improved net take home pay for the low paid.
As of 28 December 2001 there were a total of 11,840 people availing of the family income supplement.
Richard Bruton
Question:131 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the categories of social welfare recipients who are entitled to child dependent allowance to be paid up to age 22 while in full-time education; and the estimated cost of extending this concession to all social welfare categories. [3038/02]
Where a parent is receiving a pension or other long-term payment from my Department child dependant allowances are payable up to the age of 22 years or up to the end of the academic year after the 22nd birthday, where the young person remains in full-time education. The relevant payments covered by these arrangements are set out in the following appendix.
In the case of short-term payments, child dependent allowances are currently only paid up to the age of 18. As a first step towards implementing the PPF commitment to raise the age limit to 22 where the child is in full-time education from April 2002 child dependent allowances on short-term payments will be paid to the end of the academic year in which the young person reaches 18. It would cost in the region of €1.4 million in a full year to implement the PPF commitment.
Appendix
Categories of social welfare recipients who are entitled to child dependent allowance in respect of children in full-time education between 18 and 22 years.
|
Category |
Relevant Payment |
|
Retired or Elderly People |
Retirement Pension |
|
Old Age (Contributory) Pension |
|
|
Pre-retirement allowance |
|
|
Old Age (Non-contributory) Pension |
|
|
Widows, Widowers and One Parent Families |
Widow's/Widower's (Contributory) PensionDeserted Wife's BenefitWidow's/Widower's(Non-contributory) PensionDeserted Wife's AllowancePrisoner's Wife's AllowanceOne Parent Family Payment |
|
Payments in respect of illness and disability |
Invalidity PensionDisability AllowanceBlind Person's PensionDeath Benefits (Survivor's Benefits) |
|
Carers |
Carers Allowance |
|
Long-term unemployed |
Long-term unemployment assistance |
|
Farmers on low incomes |
Farm Assist |