Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 October 2004
193 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his proposals to raise carer’s benefit by at least 10% and to extend the period of benefit from 15 months to two years (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24689/04]
View answer196 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding the carer’s allowance; the plans he has to award the carer’s allowance to all carers irrespective of income; his plans to improve the present circumstances many carers are living in, in view of the sacrifices, hardship and isolation many carers all over the country are experiencing as articulated by a number of callers to “Liveline” during the week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24720/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 193 and 196 together.
Carer's benefit is a social insurance payment for persons who leave employment to care for another person for up to 15 months. Carer's leave, which is the responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, provides job protected leave of absence for up to 15 months, with employers being obliged to maintain the employee's employment rights for this period.
It is important to note that each care recipient may receive a total of 65 weeks care. This may be claimed as a single continuous period or in separate shorter time periods. In the event of a person's carer's benefit expiring and the need for income support still existing, it is, of course, open to the carer to apply for carer's allowance.
Any extension of carer's benefit would, in addition to the direct cost implications, have implications for carer's leave. Carer's allowance is a social assistance payment, the primary objective of which is to provide income support to low income carers. In line with other social assistance schemes, a means test is applied to the carer's allowance so as to ensure that limited resources are directed to those in greatest need. The means test has been eased significantly in the past few years, most notably with the introduction of disregards of spouses' earnings.
Paying a carer's allowance to all carers irrespective of income would have substantial cost implications. The cost would depend on the exact nature of the proposal but has been tentatively established at €180 million in a full year. Any improvements to the carer's allowance or carer's benefit schemes which involve additional expenditure will be considered in the context of the budget.
194 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his proposals to extend disability allowance to those who were in institutional care prior to the budget 2000 changes and who had been in receipt of disability allowance (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24690/04]
View answerResponsibility for the disabled person's maintenance allowance scheme was transferred from the Department of Health and Children and the health boards to the Department of Social and Family Affairs in October 1996. On the transfer of the scheme, the existing qualifying conditions were retained and the scheme was renamed disability allowance. One of the qualifying conditions applying to the former DPMA scheme was that the payment could not be made to people who were in residential care where the cost of the person's maintenance was met in whole or in part by a health board. Effectively, persons who would otherwise have qualified for disability allowance would continue to have their maintenance costs and, in certain cases, an element of spending money met separately rather than through a disability allowance payment.
Since the takeover of the scheme by my Department, the restrictions on payment to persons in residential care have been progressively relaxed. From August 1999 existing disability allowance recipients who are living at home can retain their entitlement where they subsequently go into hospital or residential care. A wide ranging review of illness and disability payment schemes completed by my Department in September 2003 recommended the removal of the residential care disqualification for disability allowance purposes. The working group which oversaw the review recognised that the removal would have a range of implications and that, in the absence of reliable data on the numbers involved and the actual funding arrangements currently in place, it was not possible to fully assess the likely impact or cost of such a move.
Budget 2003 provided for the takeover by my Department of the discretionary pocket money allowances paid to people with disabilities in residential care who are not entitled to disability allowance and for the standardisation of the level of these allowances. My Department is currently completing an information gathering process with the health boards with a view to arranging for the transfer of responsibility for the payment of these allowances and of the funds involved. An assessment of the scale of the transfer and its implications for a more general removal of the residential care disqualification for disability allowance purposes will be made in the light of this transfer and having regard to available resources and priorities generally.
195 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason unemployment benefit for a person (details supplied) in County Mayo has ceased. [24709/04]
View answerTo qualify for unemployment benefit a person must be available for and genuinely seeking work. The person concerned has been employed on a part-time seasonal basis for some time. Since November 2003, she has been paid unemployment benefit for the days on which she was unemployed. In the period 4 November 2003 to 6 October 2004 the person concerned had 42 days of employment.
In the context of a review of her entitlement, in September 2004, she was asked to provide details of her efforts to find work. Based on her response, a deciding officer disallowed her claim from 14 October 2004, on the grounds that she is not genuinely seeking employment. The person concerned has appealed this decision and her case is being forwarded to the social welfare appeals office for determination. Under social welfare legislation, decisions on claims must be made by deciding officers and appeals officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in making such decisions.
197 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will review the entitlement of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 8 to the back to education allowance as they will only be able to take up this place in DCU with this support. [24722/04]
View answerThe back to education allowance is a second chance educational opportunities scheme designed to encourage and facilitate certain groups, particularly people who have been unemployed for a time and are having difficulty getting back into employment, to improve their skills and qualifications and, therefore, their prospects of returning to the active work force.
To qualify for participation in the third level option of the scheme an applicant must, inter alia, be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment for at least 15 months, or 390 days, immediately prior to commencing an approved course of study. The person concerned has been in receipt of unemployment benefit for only 312 days and does not, therefore, satisfy the eligibility criteria for participation in the scheme.
