Michael Ring
Question:257 Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when a disability allowance review will take place for a person (details supplied) in County Mayo. [44362/09]
View answerTuesday, 1 December 2009
Questions (226, 227, 228)
Written answers
Disability Allowance is a weekly Allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged over 16 and under 66. The disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and a habitual residence test.
The person concerned is currently in receipt of a reduced rate of Disability Allowance. He was assessed with means from his spouse's self employment. Following a request from the person for a review of his payment his file was forwarded to a Social Welfare Inspector for a current means assessment. The Social Welfare Inspector has been in contact with the person and has arranged to interview him regarding his means.
A decision will be given upon receipt of the Social Welfare Inspector's report and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
Thomas Byrne
Question:258 Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the circumstances in which a person in employment may qualify for rent allowance. [44379/09]
View answerThe purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term 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. There are over 91,500 people in receipt of rent supplement of which over 33,300 are getting a supplement for 18 months or more. The number of rent supplement recipients has increased by 24% since the end of December 2008.
Under standard assessment rules, rent supplement is calculated to ensure that an eligible person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of basic supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to his or her their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution of €24, which each recipient is required to pay from his or her own resources. The rent supplement means test provides for a gradual withdrawal of the supplement as hours of employment or earnings increase.
Where a person has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, the first €75 of such additional income together with 25% of any additional income above €75 is disregarded for means assessment purposes.
A person engaged in full-time employment is not eligible for rent supplement. However, a person working part-time i.e. less than 30 hours a week or availing of training opportunities can con continue to receive rent supplement subject to their satisfying the standard means assessment rules. Those accepted as eligible for accommodation under Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) may to return to full-time work, also subject to a means test, without losing the entire rent supplement payment. These measures are positive steps in assisting tenants to meet their housing needs while also increasing the financial return for those returning to work.
Thomas Byrne
Question:259 Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the circumstances in which a person may qualify for mortgage interest supplement. [44389/09]
View answerThe supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA) provides for a supplement to be paid in respect of mortgage interest to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The scheme is administered by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Department.
The purpose of mortgage interest supplement is to provide short term 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.
In general a person may be entitled to a mortgage interest supplement provided that:
s/he is habitually resident in the State,
the loan agreement was entered into at a time when, in the opinion of the Health Service Executive, the person was in a position to meet the repayments,
the mortgage interest payable does not exceed such amount as the Health Service Executive considers reasonable to meet his or her residential needs. In exceptional circumstances, a supplement may be awarded where the mortgage interest exceeds such amount as the Executive considers reasonable but such a supplement is payable for a maximum of 12 months only,
s/he or spouse is not engaged in remunerative full-time employment,
s/he satisfies a means test.
Mortgage interest supplements are normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to family circumstances less a minimum weekly contribution of € 24, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than the minimum contribution because they are also required, subject to income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have over and above the appropriate basic SWA rate towards their accommodation costs.
The existing mortgage interest supplement assessment provides for a gradual withdrawal of payment as hours of employment or earnings increase. In recent years improvements have been made to the means test to encourage eligible people to engage in employment without losing their entire mortgage interest supplement. Those availing of part-time employment and/or training opportunities can continue to receive mortgage interest supplement subject to their satisfying the standard means assessment rules.
Where a person has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, the first €75 of such additional income together with 25% of any additional income above €75 is disregarded for means assessment purposes. This ensures that those returning to work or participating in training schemes are better off as a result of taking up such an opportunity.
Each application for mortgage interest supplement is determined by a community welfare officer taking account of the relevant legislative provisions and on the basis of the merits of each individual case. There is right of appeal against a refusal of mortgage interest supplement.
A review of the administration of the mortgage interest scheme is currently underway. The main purpose of the review is to examine how the scheme can best meet its objective of catering for those who require assistance on a short-term basis, where they are unable to meet mortgage interest repayments on their sole place of residence and whether alternative approaches to achieving the scheme's objectives are warranted in the light of recent changes in the economic climate and the mortgage market. The full review should be completed in early 2010.
Full details of the mortgage interest supplement scheme are available on the Department's web site www.welfare.ie.