Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2007
312 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will abolish the category of qualified adult within the social welfare system making all people so categorised independently eligible for social welfare payments and paying those eligible directly. [34843/07]
View answerThe social welfare system is designed to provide income supports and access to relevant services in a timely manner to all our customers. The system is neutral with regard to how it treats men and women; receipt of payment is generally dependent on contingency and other conditions being met. A person in receipt of a social welfare payment may claim an increase, known as a qualified adult allowance, in respect of his/her spouse or partner. Levels of payment and how they apply are exactly the same for men and women. However, while there is equity in access to the system, the impact of past labour market experience and the traditional roles of women in the home and the labour market are still reflected in some features of the social welfare system. One such feature is the status of the qualified adult, the majority of whom are women.
Significant changes have taken place in society in the past decades and the social welfare system has changed to reflect these changes, particularly to ensure that as many people as possible qualify for a social welfare payment in their own right. Considerable reform and expansion has taken place in the social insurance system to make it as inclusive as possible. This together with the increasing numbers of women entering employment has meant that more women are establishing their own entitlement to social insurance payments. In the case of State Pension schemes the qualified adult increase is now paid directly to the qualified adult. In addition, the Programme for Government includes a commitment to provide a personal pension payment, set at the level of a full rate State Pension (non-contributory), for pensioner spouses in receipt of the qualified adult increase.
The reform proposals outlined in the Government Discussion Paper: ‘Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents' further address this aspect of the social welfare system, As well as proposing the abolition of the contingency of lone parenthood, the reform proposes the departure from the concept of ‘qualified adult' within social assistance or means tested payments. Under these proposals, where a household means test is met, all individuals would claim for — and receive — a payment in their own right, thus ensuring consistency in treatment and equity across the social welfare system and recognising the changing role of women in society and the labour market. This would also mean that supports for education, training and employment would be offered to former qualified adults of working age, who are not currently engaged with.
These reform proposals would represent a fundamental change in the social welfare system, moving away from a derived entitlement to entitlement in the individual's own right. This aspect of the proposals, together with the development of a new income support scheme for lone parents and other low income families, and the non-income supports necessary to accompany such a payment, are currently being examined and developed by this Department in co-operation with other relevant Departments and agencies.
