Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 April 2008
111 Deputy Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he expects to complete his Department’s technical review of the entire social welfare code to examine its compatibility with the Equal Status Act 2000. [12198/08]
View answerThe purpose of the review of the social welfare code, which is currently being undertaken in my Department, is to examine its compatibility with the Equal Status Act, 2000 (as amended). The review will examine all the schemes and services provided for both in social welfare legislation and the administrative schemes operated by the Department. It will identify any instances of direct or indirect discrimination, on any of the nine grounds under the Act that are not justified by a legitimate social policy objective or where the means of achieving that objective are either unnecessary or inappropriate.
A decision was taken that the review would take place in two phases. Phase 1 involved the undertaking of a scoping exercise to establish the most appropriate approach and methodology to carrying out the main review, which would be robust and verifiable. The results of Phase 1 then formed the basis of the terms of reference of the main review. A request for tender for Phase 2 of the work, involving the undertaking of the main review, issued in April 2007. Consultants were selected to carry out the work in July 2007, with work commencing in October 2007. The work is expected to be completed by early 2009.
112 Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will undertake a risk analysis of each welfare payment affected by the habitual residence condition to determine if the rule could be abolished for low-risk claim-types. [12206/08]
View answerThe habitual residence condition currently applies to the following schemes:
Jobseeker's allowance, one parent family payment, disability allowance, old age non-contributory pension, widow's non-contributory pension, guardian's non-contributory payment, carer's allowance, blind person's pension, child benefit and supplementary welfare allowance. It does not apply to exceptional or urgent needs payments under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The basic rationale for introducing the condition was that a person whose habitual residence is elsewhere should not be entitled to payment under these schemes on arrival in Ireland or if they have had no attachment to the work force since arrival in Ireland.
I presume the Deputy's reference to a "low-risk claim-type" is intended to mean the schemes which have had a low number of applications. To remove the condition from one of these schemes merely because there has been a low application rate would introduce an inconsistency in the above rationale which would be hard to justify. I have no intention of amending the habitual residence condition on this basis.
113 Deputy Jan O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his plans to improve entitlement in relation to the backdating of welfare payments; and if he will bring it into line with the four year rule that applies to claiming tax credits from the Revenue Commissioners. [12190/08]
View answerThe legislative provisions relating to late claims for social welfare benefits are set out in Section 241 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, and in Regulations made under that section. These provisions set out the times within which a person must claim, the disqualifications which apply where a late claim is made, and the circumstances in which the time limits may be extended.
Since 1997 a number of improvements have been made to the provision relating to late claims for social welfare payments. For example, prior to 1997 arrears of state pension contributory claims were limited to either three months or six months before the date of claim. Regulations made in 2000 established a statutory basis for certain extra-statutory provisions which were applied in the case of late claims under certain schemes. All late claims are now determined in accordance with the legislation.
The legislation also provides for payment to be made on foot of late claims in the case of a range of other schemes for a period of 6 months prior to the date of claim, provided that there was good cause for the delay in claiming.
The legislation now also provides for relaxation of the restrictions on backdating late claims under all schemes apart from jobseeker's benefit, jobseeker's allowance and supplementary welfare allowance, and for further payment to be made, up to the level of full retrospection if the circumstances would warrant it, where:
the delay was due to incorrect information having been given by my Department, or
illness or a force majeure prevented a person from claiming earlier or,
the person is dependent on the arrears of payment to relieve financial hardship.
It is generally accepted that there is an obligation on people to claim their social welfare entitlements in time. However, cases will inevitably arise where they fail to do so and the legislative provisions are designed to cater for such situations. I am satisfied that the current provisions strike a reasonable balance between, on the one hand the need to exercise supervision and control of claims and, on the other hand, the need for appropriate recognition to be given to cases of genuine hardship or difficulty.
