Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 May 2008
329 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to implement a range of reforms to income support, including removal of the cohabitation restriction, replacing lone parents allowance with a new and improved family friendly allowance and relaxing restrictions on work while retaining the social welfare payment. [18593/08]
View answerThe Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, put forward proposals for the expanded availability and range of education and training opportunities for lone parents; the extension of the National Employment Action Plan to focus on lone parents; focused provision of childcare; improved information services for lone parents and the introduction of a new social assistance payment for low income families with young children.
Under the proposals the lone parenthood category of payment would no longer exist. Instead, a new payment would be made to all parents (living alone or with a partner), with young children, on low income. This new payment is currently being developed in my Department, taking into account the various issues raised in the consultation process which has and continues to take place. Any proposed new payment scheme can only be introduced when the necessary co-ordinated supports and services are put in place on the ground by other relevant Departments and Agencies. This is why the Senior Officials Group on Social Inclusion has been tasked with bringing forward a plan on the key issues of childcare, education, training and activation measures.
The non-income recommendations contained in the discussion paper were examined in two areas: Coolock and Kilkenny. These studies focused on identifying and resolving any practical and administrative issues that may arise in advance of the scheme being introduced. These studies took place between November 2007 and February 2008. The studies allow for operational and logistical co-ordination between the relevant Departments and Agencies to be considered and facilitate the development of the policy and operational details of the new scheme and accompanying supports.
The outcome of the process is currently being considered in the Department. This will inform the further development of the proposals which I hope to bring to the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion in the coming months.
330 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to implement significant improvements to the back to school clothing and footwear allowance and the school meals programme. [18594/08]
View answerThe Programme for Government commits to implementing significant improvements in both the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance and the School Meals schemes. There have been significant improvements to both schemes in recent years.
The rates of back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) have been increased significantly. Since 2005, the allowance has increased from €80 to €200 in respect of qualified children aged from 2 to 11 years and from €150 to €305 for those aged from 12 to 22 years. These are increases of 150% and 103%, respectively. In 2006, the income limits for BSCFA were increased by €50 to €100 above the state pension (contributory) rate. The numbers of children benefiting from the allowance increased from 161,000 in 2006 to over 180,000 in 2007.
These improvements provide a major boost to families in meeting the financial costs associated with return to school for those who most need assistance. The improvements in BSCFA are also very significant when viewed in the context of clothing and footwear price trends. According to the Consumer Price Index for April 2008, the overall cost of clothing and footwear has fallen by almost 3% over the past twelve months.
Further improvements in the scheme will be considered in the context of next December's Budget in light of the resources available to me for improvements in Social Welfare generally.
The school meals programme operated by my Department gives funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes, the long-standing statutory urban school meals scheme and the school meals local projects programme.
The implementation of improvements in the school meals programme is well underway. Expenditure on the programme increased from €13.6m in 2006 to €27.16m in 2007, and is expected to be in the region of €32m in 2008. A large number of disadvantaged school children have been included in the programme in recent years. In 2006, some 1,394 schools with over 145,000 pupils benefited, and this increased to over 185,000 pupils in over 1,900 schools in 2007.
The Department of Education and Science have identified a total of 875 disadvantaged schools under its ‘Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools' (DEIS) action plan. These DEIS schools have been targeted for inclusion in the school meals local projects scheme and, to date, pupils from over 700 DEIS schools have benefited from the scheme. More DEIS schools will be included in the school meals local projects scheme during 2008.
331 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to urgently examine the development of a mortgage support system for people on low incomes in order to reduce long term reliance on rent supplement. [18595/08]
View answerThe commitment in the programme for Government to which the Deputy refers is being advanced in the context of housing policy. Housing supports in general are provided by local authorities but the Department provides income maintenance support where required in particular circumstances.
Mortgage interest supplement provides income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists with the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only. The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.
In recent years, a significant number of people have come to rely on rent supplements for extended periods, including people on local authority housing waiting lists. At the end of April 2008 over 62,025 people were in receipt of a supplement. The scheme has also witnessed an increase in the duration of entitlement with almost 32,000 recipients now getting a supplement for 18 months or more. The scheme was not designed to meet long-term ongoing housing needs.
One of the measures introduced to address the issue of long-term rent supplementation is the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) which among other things gives local authorities specific responsibility for meeting the long-term housing needs of people receiving rent supplement for eighteen months or more. Under RAS, housing needs are met through a range of approaches including the traditional range of social housing options, the voluntary housing sector, and in particular, a new public/private partnership arrangement to provide rental housing for households with long-term housing needs. Almost 13,000 tenants have been transferred from rent supplement scheme to RAS since 2005.
Significant changes to the means test for rent supplement were implemented in 2007 specifically to facilitate people returning to work and those accepted as eligible for accommodation under RAS. These measures are positive steps in assisting tenants in achieving a long-term housing solution for their needs while also increasing the financial return from employment for those returning to work or moving to full-time employment.
I am anxious that all avenues are explored as regards ways of providing support for those on long-term rent supplementation including options to support them in securing home ownership. This is being considered in the context of overall housing policy, which comes within the remit of my colleague the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. That Department already provides a range of housing supports through local government initiatives, including traditional social housing and RAS, both of which provide tenants with the benefit of Differential Rent. They also include shared ownership and affordable housing schemes. Any further initiatives in relation to mortgage support will be framed by that Department in the context of its "Delivering Homes — Sustaining Communities" housing policy statement and "Increasing Affordable Housing Supply" published in 2007. A public consultation on enhancement of the existing affordable housing mechanisms is now under way. I consider that it would be preferable to deploy resources directly in the housing support system rather than through the social welfare system.
Overall, I consider that the current range of housing supports, together with the enhancements that may emerge from the current public consultation in relation to affordable housing, provide the potential to meet long-term housing needs in an appropriate and sustainable manner.
332 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to examine the introduction of free travel for Irish citizens of pension age particularly those resident in the UK when visiting Ireland, and press the European Commission to examine a similar EU wide scheme. [18597/08]
View answerThe free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over and to people receiving certain disability or care payments.
Following extension of the free travel scheme on an "all Island" basis proposals were put forward to extend the scheme to Irish born people living abroad and those receiving pensions from my Department. Officials of the Department have been examining the proposal and, in this regard, have engaged in discussions with EU Commission officials. However, at this stage, it has not been possible to progress the matter as, under EU legislation discrimination on grounds of nationality is prohibited.
More recently, the European Commission has indicated that to extend the scheme to people in receipt of an Irish pension could also be considered discriminatory.
