Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 February 2004
109 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she has satisfied herself that the provisions in the taxation and welfare codes whereby parents with children living apart receive more generous tax relief and more generous social welfare entitlements and means tests than parents who live together; and if the Government's family policy proposes to change these arrangements. [3844/04]
View answerThe provisions in the taxation code are a matter for the Minister for Finance.
With regard to social welfare legislation, the Deputy is specifically interested in the reasons as to why the earnings disregard which applies to the one-parent family payment scheme does not apply to couples in receipt of other social assistance schemes and also why no account is taken of the employment status of a spouse or partner under the family income supplement scheme in circumstances where there is an extra cost associated with that person. While the principle of consistency across all social welfare schemes is a desirable one, it must be tempered by the fact that different categories of social welfare recipients have differing needs and the social welfare system must be flexible enough to respond adequately to these needs.
The different methods of assessing earnings as between the various social assistance payment schemes reflects specific policies which have been pursued by this and previous Governments and which are aimed at assisting particular groups. For example, research has clearly shown that unemployed lone parent families are particularly at risk of poverty. The one-parent family payment scheme and associated earnings disregard was introduced in January 1997. The policy approach in supporting lone parents in their efforts to find work or participate in training and education aims to facilitate participation in schemes and programmes to that end. Lone parents are further encouraged to take up work through earnings disregards. This is designed to recognise the particular difficulties and expenses which a lone parent may face in taking up employment and training opportunities, and to encourage them to consider employment as an alternative to long-term welfare dependency.
The earnings disregards applying to other social assistance schemes are designed to achieve different objectives. For example, this Government has progressively increased the earnings disregards applicable to either a carer or his or her spouse or partner. I continued this policy in the last budget when I significantly increased the disregards from €210 per week to €250 per week for a single carer and €420 per week to €500 per week for a couple, thereby recognising the particular income support needs of carers and their special contribution to our society.
In the case of unemployment assistance, there are special income disregards where a claimant and his or her spouse or partner is in employment. A full qualified adult allowance, QAA, is payable where a spouse or partner is earning up to €88.88 per week and a partial QAA continues to be payable where a spouse or partner earns up to €210 per week. These measures are designed to ensure that claimants and their spouses or partners have an incentive to work at all levels of earnings.
Family income supplement is designed to provide income support for employees with families, who are on low earnings and thereby preserve the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where employees might only be marginally better off than if they were claiming other social welfare payments. The calculation of family income supplement payments is based on the number of children and the family's net earnings. No differentiation is made in cases where one or both of a couple is in employment.
The provisions currently in place regarding income disregards are geared towards tackling the particular needs of specific groups of recipients. This enables the social welfare system to respond to the differing needs of those who depend on it. In this regard, my Department carries out regular reviews of social welfare schemes and the recommendations of such reviews inform future development and change.
