Claire Kerrane
Question:1. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection when the report of the child maintenance review group will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50416/22]
Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions
Departmental Reports
The purpose of this question is to ask the Minister for an update on the report completed by the child maintenance review group, which, I understand, was furnished to her at Easter. Perhaps she might be able to tell us a little about that report, what stage it is at and when it will be published.
I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising this issue. In line with the commitment in the programme for Government, the Government established a child maintenance review group to examine certain issues in relation to child maintenance in Ireland. The group's terms of reference were to consider and make recommendations on: the current treatment of child maintenance payments in my Department; the current provisions regarding liable relatives managed by my Department; and the establishment of a child maintenance agency in Ireland. As part of its work, the group conducted a public consultation process. Submissions were received from members of the public, as well as Members of the Oireachtas, NGOs and professional bodies. The group also examined the international position where there are a variety of different approaches taken to these matters.
The group's report was submitted to me in April. I am giving the report the careful consideration that such an important and complex issue deserves. Given that it relates to issues which are beyond the scope of the social welfare system, I am also consulting Government colleagues. Once the report has been fully considered, my intention is to bring it to Government before the end of this year, at which time a decision regarding a publication date will be made.
As lone parents continue to be a group with a high risk of poverty, I was pleased to provide a number of measures in budget 2023 which will be of benefit to them. Recipients of one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transitional payment will be amongst those who receive a double weekly payment in October and a 100% Christmas bonus in December. Lone parents will also receive a double payment of child benefit in November. Approximately half of the people who receive the €500 cost-of-living lump sum payment which will be made to recipients of the working family payment in November will be lone parents.
I have also provided for a €40 increase in the weekly income thresholds for the working family payment from January. Lone parents will also benefit from the increase of €12 in the weekly rate of working-age payments in January. The rate of increase for a qualified child will increase to €42 and €50 per week in respect of a qualified child aged under or over 12, respectively.
As the Minister stated, lone-parent families are in deep poverty. They show very high levels across the board, from at risk of poverty to risk of deprivation, living in deprivation and experiencing deprivation. The consistent poverty rate remains far too high. It is much higher than it should be in any case.
The Minister will also know lone parent organisations, both One Family and Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Kids, SPARK, have voiced deep disappointment in respect of the budget. Many of the measures the Minister outlined, including those relating to child benefit and the working family payment, are not specific to lone-parent families. Aside from the weekly increase they, along with all other social welfare recipients, will receive from January, there was nothing targeted at them in the context of the level of poverty they experience.
I am disappointed that the Minister has had the report since April, that we still have not seen it and that we will not now see it until perhaps the end of the year at the earliest. Is there any chance for movement on that, particularly in view of the fact that the organisations are obviously waiting for this report?
Lone parents will get considerable support as part of the social welfare package that we announced only two weeks ago. For example, a lone parent with two children will get two double payments of the one-parent family payment - that will be €416 - before Christmas. If they are a working family, they will get the €500 working family payment. They will get an extra €280 on child benefit. They will get a €12 increase in the one-parent family payment from 1 January. That is an extra €624 over a full year. That is an extra €1,820 going into their pockets as a result of this budget. Over a year, that works out as an extra €35 per week.
I am aware that Deputy Kerrane has a strong interest in this area regarding child maintenance review. The Deputy has raised it with me on a number of occasions. In fairness to the group, which was chaired by Judge Catherine Murphy, it took 18 months or so to look at this matter. They went through all the issues in great detail and they invited submissions from all the stakeholders. It is clear from their report that they gave a lot of consideration to all of the different issues. There are many issues here, both in the social protection space and also in that relating to the Department of Justice. The group looked at all of those issues and it gave them detailed consideration. I have given the report detailed consideration over the past few months. I will act on the report. I want to do that.
The report is done. The Minister has had since April to consider it. I believe that she will move on it. I welcome that. However, it would be good if we all, especially the organisations involved, could see the report because up until now - and certainly up until the group was established in 2020 - there has not been that sense of urgency around child maintenance and the establishment of a child maintenance service can only be positive. When maintenance is paid, all evidence shows that it can play a role in lifting children in lone-parent families out of poverty. That, in itself, should be enough to move swiftly in respect of this matter. The latter is something that SPARK and One Family are seeking. I mention One Family because it is celebrating 50 years in existence today. I commend One Family and SPARK on the work they do. However, like me, they are anxious to see this report. Now that the report is complete and the good work has been done, it can only be of benefit that report be published sooner rather than later.
I also wish One Family well as it celebrates a significant anniversary.
I met with the chair of this group, Judge Murphy, and spoke to her. She is formidable. She is a thorough lady. That conversation has been useful to me. I have spoken with my colleagues, the Ministers for Justice and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputies McEntee and O'Gorman, because there are issues at play in respect of both of their Departments. I can say honestly that it is not my intention to delay this, but the Deputy will appreciate there are major issues involved. I want to get it right. That is most important. I must also consult with my Government colleagues.
I know the situation. We talked about this previously. There is nothing worse than somebody who should be paying maintenance paying a week, missing a week, paying another week and then missing five or six weeks. It is a mess. It is terrible for the person who is depending on that money. I want to help here. I want to see how we can improve it. In fairness, it has been a busy couple of months between pensions, budgets, auto-enrolment and the cost of living, but I am dealing with it now.
Citizens Information Services
Cathal Berry
Question:2. Deputy Cathal Berry asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the implementation of the Citizens Information Board's strategic plan in respect of the use of volunteer staff; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50989/22]
My question has to do with the citizens information service and, in particular, what the plan is to deal with volunteer staff. There have been rumours and concerns floating around over the past couple of months. The Minister might use this opportunity this morning to clarify the Government's position in that regard.
I thank Deputy Berry for raising this. As Minister, I recognise and value the good work carried out by volunteers. I have been clear to the Citizens Information Board that it is important that the voluntary ethos of the citizens information service should be protected and the skills of its volunteers should be utilised to the maximum extent possible.
The Citizens Information Board, CIB, has publicly acknowledged the centrality of volunteers in delivering and supporting CIB-funded services and considers their continued contribution to be vital in ensuring the citizens information service remains an independent trusted source of information, advice and advocacy. Having said this, it is also important to recognise and protect the statutory independence of the Citizens Information Board and the separation between it and the eight independent regional citizens information service companies that it funds and that operate the national network of citizen information centres on its behalf.
Section 7(1) of the Comhairle Act charges the CIB with the provision of independent information, advice and advocacy services. This is to ensure that individuals receive impartial advice and access to accurate and comprehensive information relating to social services. This statutory independence is also to ensure that government cannot unduly influence the information or advice offered by CIB nor dictate how it should provide services.
Similarly, each citizens information service company is a separate company in its own right. These are the eight regional companies. They are governed by a voluntary board of directors. They are subject to meeting service standards set by the CIB. These eight companies are responsible for decisions on the delivery of services in their own regions. Any operational changes or decisions are, therefore, a matter for the Citizens Information Board and the independent boards. As Minister I cannot direct them regarding operational decisions.
I thank the Minister for her response. I agree entirely that it is an excellent service. It is independent, valued and, crucially, it is accessible. I use it myself. I refer many constituents to the service and I presume every Deputy in the House does the same. I have the Newbridge office on speed dial if I want to run something by it on a complex case. I take the point on the importance of the autonomy of the service. There was a press release about five weeks ago from the board in which it mentioned it would set up an independent review. Do we know anything about this independent review? Who is running it? When will it be started and finished? Does the Minister have any information to enlighten us?
I thank Deputy Berry. I was just going to tell him about this but I ran out of time. I met the chairperson and CEO of the CIB to seek further information. Following the meeting the CIB initiated an independent review of its volunteer strategy. This independent review will consult current and past volunteers and other important stakeholders. It is expected that it will be concluded in the coming months. Its recommendations will directly inform the CIB's new three-year strategy from 2023 to 2025.
My background is in the credit union sector. Nobody values the community and voluntary ethos more than I do. This is why, on foot of concerns raised with me by Deputies, I met the CEO and the chair. I recognise the good work carried out by the volunteers. I have been very clear to the CIB that people who have given up their time through the years deserve to be treated with respect. This is the very least they deserve. Following my meeting with it, the EIB has confirmed the terms of reference for the independent review. It will engage with internal and external stakeholders, including current and past volunteers. I have also appointed a new member to the board of the CIB who is also a member of Volunteer Ireland.
That is good to hear. I appreciate the update. My view, which is shared by most Deputies, is that the citizens information service is excellent not in spite of the volunteers but because of them. Many of them have a wealth of knowledge from their careers, be that in tax or social welfare. They also have a crucial accessibility function. I welcome the review and I look forward to reading its findings. I recommend making the maximum use of this crucial cohort of volunteers as much as possible. They are half-men and women and half-encyclopaedia. They really have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the services and we should maintain, maximise and optimise their use.
To be very clear, I want to see volunteers back. The CIB has assured me the contribution of volunteers continues to be highly valued. The role of the volunteer is still seen as central to the delivery of the service. Volunteers have been returning on a phased basis since mid-2022. The CIB advises me that to date 120 volunteers have returned to support the delivery of the citizens information centres throughout the country. There are some volunteers who have not come back since Covid. It is important that we make sure there are services for people. The most important thing is that there is someone to answer their questions. There are eight regional citizen information service companies. They are all independent. Some seem to be getting on with their work without any issue. There seem to be problems with others. The CIB is engaging with the eight regional companies on the continued return of volunteers. I want to see this happen. I will be keeping a close eye on this. I will leave it at that.
Social Welfare Benefits
Claire Kerrane
Question:3. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the processing of additional needs payment applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50417/22]
Will the Minister provide an update on the processing of additional needs payments? These are very important in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis. I presume demand will increase and I am sure the Department expects demand to increase further as we come into the winter period.
I thank the Deputy for raising this. Additional needs payments are intended to assist people with essential once-off exceptional expenditure that a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. In 2022 to the end of September almost 66,000 applications for additional needs payments were processed and awarded. This is an increase of just under 60% on 2021 figures. This rise in the number of applications reflects in part the positive measures the Department has implemented, including two major advertising campaigns to increase awareness of the payments.
In the region of 63% of all applications are being finalised within four weeks. As part of the decision process there is a need to verify household income and expenditure and assess whether the expenditure in respect of which the additional needs payment is requested is essential. Where an application is complete and accompanied by the required documentation it is generally processed in a matter of days. However, when an application is not finalised within this timeframe the delay is generally due to additional information or documentation being requested from the person to support the application. It is important to note that where my officials are aware that a client has an urgent or immediate need every effort is made to ensure the person in question receives a prompt service, usually on the same day.
The Department has taken a number of steps to increase service capacity, including the introduction of a national community welfare service freephone line. This means clients do not have to attend an office in person to make a claim. It has rostered staff to ensure there is a full-time community welfare officer present in all of our 50 offices nationwide. It has established a back office support team to take on the more routine administrative tasks associated with claim processing. This means front-line staff can be freed up and it allows community welfare officers to deal directly with customers and their claims. In addition, the Department is well advanced on the development of an online claim option.
I am glad to hear the online option is been progressed. This will be important. It is something I have raised with the Minister previously. It would be welcome because it may allow a person to ensure every bit of information is uploaded and provided before an application is submitted. There would then not be an over and back between the Department and the applicant. In September I was alarmed when I was advised that at that point 95% of applications were being processed within five to eight weeks. That is far too long. It is welcome to hear that 63% of applications are being processed within four weeks. Obviously the times have improved and I welcome this but we are still looking at another 37% that are not processed within four weeks. Four weeks is a long time to wait if people have a bill or need to replace something in their homes.
I have raised with the Minister many times the issue of community welfare officers. I understand they are in Intreo centres which can be a number of miles away from people living in rural areas. Recently the local family resource centre raised with me the issue of domestic violence survivors. People in these situations are very vulnerable with regard to getting to an Intreo centre and do not have the option of walking into a local service to see a community welfare officer as they were able to previously.
If somebody has an urgent need they will be seen as a matter of urgency and immediately.
In some cases, a same-day or next-day payment can be provided. Only a few months ago, the Deputy asked me about the fall-off in these payments. At that stage, she said we were not doing enough to promote the payments and that not enough people knew about it. It is sort of the opposite now. The Deputy is telling me that too many people are applying and that we cannot keep up. Just to be clear, I want people who need these payments to get them because that is what they are there for. Earlier this year, I made a number of changes to try to simplify the process and make it easier for people. We set up a national helpline phone number. We developed new income guidelines aligned with those of the working family payment and put them on our website. We got rid of the 30-hour rule and ran two major public awareness campaigns. There were radio and social media adverts constantly airing to raise awareness and get the message out, which I am sure the Deputy heard. That campaign and those changes have had the effect we wanted. More people are aware of the payment and more are applying. That is what we are here to do; we are here to help.
To be fair, I do not think that is very fair. What I wanted to see was the ramping up of those supports to ensure that people knew they were there in order to access them. Of course, if numbers were low earlier in the year, such as in February and March when they were between 4,000 or 5,000, there was concern. The Department did all that work on advertising and campaigning. That is what I wanted to see and that is welcome, but when ramping things up, demand will obviously increase, and we need to make sure people are not waiting up to eight weeks for a payment, which they were in September. People have waited two months. Some 95% of applications in September were finalised between five to eight weeks. That is my issue. It is a fair issue to raise because if the Minister is encouraging people to apply for a payment, which I have asked her to do and I have no issue with, people must get that support in a timely manner. These are supposed to be emergency payments and it is fair of me to raise this with her. I put forward the idea of putting the process online not to complain about the fall-off, but to ensure people had every opportunity to access the support.
A comprehensive review was undertaken in 2021 of all services and activities delivered by the Department's network of local offices, which came as news to me. Will that review be published?
When you get all the information in an application straight away, it can be dealt with very fast, which the Deputy will appreciate. Where additional information is needed, we know it holds things up a bit. It is taxpayers' money. We just cannot throw it out there. We must have some checks and balances. If they were dragging their heels, you would not see the huge increase in awarded payments that we have seen. If additional staffing resources are needed, my Department will not be found wanting. During the pandemic, we moved staff around to meet demand when there are pressures in certain areas. We have community welfare officers in 51 Intreo centres across the country. They can talk to people over the phone, meet people in the local branch, and they can even arrange to meet people in their own home by appointment if that is needed. As stated, we are looking at setting up the online system so people can apply directly for an additional needs payment. In fairness to the staff and community welfare officers in the Department of Social Protection, they certainly did not let us down during the pandemic and they are not going to let us down now either, because they want to help people and that is what they are here for.
Question No. 4 taken with Written Answers.
Cost of Living Issues
Joan Collins
Question:5. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection when she will publish the child maintenance review (details supplied). [50612/22]
When will the Minister for Social Protection publish the child maintenance review, which she received in April? Groups representing lone parents expected it to be made public before the summer recess. Does the Minister have money in the pot for the implementation of any recommendations that may come from the review later in the year?
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. In line with the programme for Government commitment, the Government established a child maintenance review group to examine certain issues on child maintenance in Ireland. The group's terms of reference were to consider and make recommendations on the current treatment of child maintenance payments in my Department; the current provisions regarding liable relatives managed by my Department; and the establishment of a child maintenance agency in Ireland. As part of its work, the group conducted a public consultation process. Submissions were received from members of the public, as well as Members of the Oireachtas, NGOs and professional bodies. The group also examined the international position where there are a variety of different approaches taken to these matters.
The group's report was submitted to me in April. I am giving the report the careful consideration such an important and complex issue deserves. Given that it relates to issues beyond the scope of the social welfare system, I am also consulting Government colleagues. Once the report has been fully considered, I intend to bring it to Government before the end of this year, at which time a decision regarding a publication date will be made.
As lone parents continue to be a group at a high risk of poverty, I was pleased to provide a number of measures in budget 2023 that will be of benefit to them. Recipients of one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transitional payment will be among those who receive a double weekly-payment in October and a 100% Christmas bonus in December. Lone parents will also receive a double payment of child benefit in November. Approximately half the people who receive the €500 cost-of-living lump sum payment, which will be made to recipients of the working family payment in November, will be lone parents.
I have also provided a €40 increase in the weekly income thresholds for the working family payment from January. Lone parents will also benefit from the increase of €12 in the weekly rate of working-age payments in January. The rate for a qualified child will increase to €42 and €50 per week in respect of a qualified child aged under or over 12 years, respectively. These rates will have increased by €6 for under-12s and €10 for over-12s in the past three budgets.
As the Minister will be aware, this review was warmly welcomed by lone parents and the organisations One Family and SPARK, and they were very keen to process the review. The Minister says the review will not be published until possibly the end of the year or maybe early next year. Has she made provision within her Department's budget for the implementation of any recommendations that may come from that review? Most lone parents were hoping recognition would have been given to the fact that the payment of maintenance payments can be erratic.
The Economic and Social Research Institute, ERSI, and the Vincentians have said that when you strip out all the one-off payments, which are welcome and which no one will refuse, the social welfare rates are below inflation and people will find themselves struggling further next year even though money has been pumped into the system.
The ESRI estimates the combination of budget 2023 and cost-of-living supports will protect most households from inflationary pressures over the coming year, more so than if welfare rates alone had been increased in line with inflation. It concluded that this will substantially cushion real incomes across society The ESRI has said it will make a difference and that what we have done in the budget will help households deal with the inflationary pressures.
On the child maintenance review, I have met with and spoken to the chair and she has gone through the review in detail. I found our conversation very useful. I have spoken to my colleagues, the Ministers for Justice and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, because there are issues relating to both of their Departments. I will have further discussions with them in the coming days and will bring a report to Government in the next few weeks.
The Minister will understand there is a sense of urgency among lone parents and the groups representing them that this would be processed as quickly as possible. I again ask if she has made provision in her budget from the point of view of the recommendations coming out of this review. I do not know whether payments will be costed, whether a one-stop shop will be set up or whatever comes out of this review.
I read an article that said once-off payments are welcome and have an impact but that the basic welfare rate has not kept up with inflation and this will have an impact on people with them having less money in March or April of next year. The Vincentians also said in their report that lone parents with a child in primary or secondary will be short by €78.59 in respect of the adequate levels of income next year.
We cannot take any of these things in isolation. We need to take things in their totality. There is a lump sum and there are increases. All of those taken together will clearly protect the most vulnerable households from inflationary pressures over the coming year. We have to take the whole lot together.
Deputy Kerrane also raised the issue of child maintenance reviews. We want to make progress on this because most of the people who are affected by child maintenance, or the lack thereof, are women. We know that. I genuinely want to move this on. There have been a lot of things in the past couple of months, such as pensions, budgets, auto-enrolment and the cost of living. It is now my priority to deal with this issue. I want to get it right. We have examined models in other countries. While on the surface something might appear to be the right solution, when one starts to dig in a bit there are things that might not work well here. Ultimately, when a maintenance order has been made, if one parent is supposed to pay the other for the upkeep of the child, we want to make sure that the money gets to that parent every week.
I was going to say that the brevity this morning is because of the preponderance of female contributions, but that would not be fair to Deputy Berry who was also extremely brief.