Written Answers Nos. 355-375
355. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will expedite an application for rent supplement in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43180/12]
View answerThe person concerned was sent a request for further information on 4 May and the same document was sent again on 2 July 2012 in relation to his rent supplement claim. The Department has received no information from the client to date. A decision will be made on his application when the information has been provided.
356. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the review of labour market activation measures in relation to community employment schemes; when it is expected that the report will be finalised; her views regarding the need to change eligibility criteria in relation to existing participants who wish to remain for an additional year particularly in view of difficulties being reported in relation to attracting new participants to community employment schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43187/12]
View answerThe Labour Market Activation Schemes policy review is in progress. When complete, it will inform the Department’s strategic approach in relation to labour market activation including the Community Employment (CE) programme. The Department is committed to enhancing the effectiveness of the Community Employment Programme whilst being conscious of the valuable contribution it is making in the provision of services to individuals and communities across Ireland. There have been no changes with regards to the eligibility criteria and participation durations of CE participants. Participants engaged under the Part-time Integration Option of CE (1 year’s participation) can be extended into a second consecutive year in up to 10% of cases where the participant can demonstrate they would benefit from continued participation in terms of additional development and training. Currently there are no significant difficulties in filling Community Employment vacancies as the number of qualifying candidates outstrips CE vacancies.
357. Deputy Nicky McFadden asked the Minister for Social Protection if the habitual residence form of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath in respect of a carer's allowance application has been approved; when a decision will issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43194/12]
View answerAn application for carer’s allowance was received from the person in question on 10 August 2012. On 5 October a letter was issued to the person in question by a deciding officer requesting further information and evidence to demonstrate his habitual residency. The person concerned has 21 days to respond and forward the requested information. Once the deciding officer has received all the information, they can continue with the processing of the application. Once all the necessary investigations have been carried out, a decision will be made and the person in question will be contacted directly with the outcome.
358. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an application for carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; when a decision will issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43199/12]
View answerI confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on 31 January 2012. The application is with a deciding officer for a decision. It will be processed as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
359. Deputy John O'Mahony asked the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive a decision on their application for carer’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43208/12]
View answerI confirm that the department is in receipt of an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question. The application is with a deciding officer for a decision. It will be processed as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
360. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will examine the carer's allowance application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry as there is undue delay in the processing of the application since March 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43210/12]
View answerI confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on 26 April 2012. The application is with a deciding officer for a decision. It will be processed as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
361. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will examine the case of person (details supplied) in Dublin 15 who will shortly face homelessness in view of the fact that they cannot find a new home within their new allocated rent allowance cap and their landlord will not reduce the rent to the amount requested. [43228/12]
View answerThe person concerned is currently paying monthly rent of €950 for her accommodation. In line with the relevant legislation the person concerned was informed on 1 October 2012 that she should negotiate to have her rent payable reduced to €775 per month which is the rent limit for her family size as set out in legislation. The person concerned has been advised that she has until 31 December 2012 to either negotiate a reduction in her rent or to find alternative accommodation.
362. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will examine the case of persons (details supplied) in Dublin 15 who will shortly face homelessness in view of the fact that they cannot find a new home in their locality within their newly allocated rent allowance cap and their landlord will not reduce the rent to the amount requested. [43229/12]
View answerThe person concerned is currently paying monthly rent of €900 for his family’s accommodation. In line with the relevant legislation the person concerned was informed on 1st October 2012 that he should negotiate to have her rent payable reduced to €775 per month which is the rent limit for the family size as set out in legislation. The person concerned has been advised that he has until 31st December 2012 to either negotiate a reduction in his rent or to find alternative accommodation.
363. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an appeal for disability pension in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork. [43255/12]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 29th August 2012. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When received, the appeal in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
364. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that there is confusion regarding the new process for applying for rent supplement; her views on whether the policy change whereby persons can no longer make their urgent applications face to face to a community worker welfare officer but instead have to fill out lengthy forms and send these with documentation to a PO box is a backward step; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that persons are being told they will not receive a decision on their application for months; and if she will reverse this policy and insist that CWOs continue to deal with these applications. [43260/12]
View answerThe purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source. The overall aim is to provide short-term assistance and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 90,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement, for which the Government has provided €436m in 2012.
Historically rent supplements have been administered at a local level by the Community Welfare Service directly to the customer. As a result of the large increase in claims being made in recent years, with the number of persons in receipt of the allowance increasing by 62% during the period from 2007 to 2011, it was considered that the processing of rent supplement claims could be delivered more efficiently through centralised units. Departmental officers who were formerly community welfare officers continue to assess applications for rent supplement within the centralised units. The establishment of rent units also supports front line staff to focus on the delivery of basic payments and exceptional and urgent needs payments.
Customers living in one of the areas covered by a rent unit can obtain a rent pack from their local departmental representative. This pack contains detailed information and all the relevant application forms. This rent pack can also be requested by phone from the relevant unit. Information on the areas covered by rents units throughout the country is available on the Department’s website.
The timescale for determining individual applications for rent supplement is dependent, among other things, on the availability of the required information, such as details of the applicant’s income, bank statements, information from landlords, etc. In addition, some aspects of the applications are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where further investigations or third party evidence is required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information. The Deputy’s particular concern is probably referring to the Bishop’s Square Central Unit which did experience an increase in application waiting times over the last number of weeks. This is in part due to the on-going process of rationalising rent and mortgage interest supplements services for the greater Dublin area with a view to improving efficiency in service delivery. The temporary issue of waiting times in the Bishop's Square office has since been resolved.
A key objective of the transfer of the Community Welfare Service from the Health Service Executive to my Department on 1 October 2011 is to provide a streamlined, consistent and enhanced service to the customer. The process of integration is ongoing and significant progress has already been made with a unified service, the National Employment and Entitlements Service, is now in the process of being delivered in four offices. The delivery of services in relation to processing rent supplement applications is also subject to on-going review. However, I have no plans at this time to reverse the establishment of some centralised rent units.
I am satisfied that staff makes every effort to decide rent supplement claims in an efficient, effective and timely manner.
365. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection if rent supplement is now being paid in arrears rather than in advance in view of the fact that this is putting persons under significant pressure. [43261/12]
View answerThe purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source. The overall aim is to provide short-term assistance and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 90,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement, for which the Government has provided €436m in 2012.
Rent supplement is payable in arrears and there has been no change to this payment arrangement. Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, a payment for rent in advance can be made as an exceptional needs payment. An exceptional needs payment may be made to help meet an essential once-off cost, which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment and each application is determined by the officer administering the SWA scheme based on the particular circumstances of the case taking account of the nature and extent of the need. Such payments are confined to occurrences which are considered to be unexpected, unforeseen or exceptional.
This flexibility ensures that individuals with particular needs can be accommodated within the scheme and specifically protects against homelessness.
368. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps she is taking to address the delay in processing applications within her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43333/12]
View answerMy Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers and continuously strives to achieve the highest standard of customer service possible. The Department relies on the knowledge and expertise of its staff to deliver these services and, in view of their crucial role, the numbers of staff required to deliver a quality customer service is kept under constant review.
In the period since May 2008, some 1,045 staff have been redeployed to the Department to fill critical vacancies in scheme areas, local offices, central support units and the Department’s inspectorate to deal with the increased volume of claims due to the downturn in the economy. The Department also makes judicious use of overtime and employs temporary staff as appropriate to address particular service issues as they arise.
In general across departmental schemes delays are kept to an absolute minimum. In August 2012, for instance, 96% of domestic State Pension Contributory claims being decided by the date of entitlement and 98% of illness benefit claims were decided within 1 week. However, customers for some other Departmental schemes such as family income supplement and carer’s allowance are experiencing lengthy delays at present.
Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria for the scheme involved. In order to meet the dual challenges of increased claim volumes and the demand for shorter processing times, the Department has embarked on a major programme of process redesign and modernisation involving the development and roll-out of new computer systems and streamlined work practices. In addition, a programme of business improvement process projects is underway in the Department’s Longford Headquarters, which deals with long-term disability, carer’s and family income supplement schemes. This programme is aimed at eliminating excessive delays and began with invalidity pension. A significant reduction in the number of new invalidity pension claims awaiting decision has been achieved with numbers reducing from 7,007 at the start of June 2012 to 5,372 at the end of September 2012. Similar projects are currently underway in the carer’s allowance and family income supplement areas.
I should also point out that in order to offer a more streamlined, efficient and integrated service to customers, the Department is undergoing a process of intensive planning and organisational change in establishing the new National Employment and Entitlements Service (NEES). This service brings together the Community Welfare Service (CWS), the Employment Services and Community Employment Programmes of FÁS, the Rural Social Scheme and Community Services Programme from the former Department of Community, Equality and the Gaeltacht and the Redundancy and Insolvency schemes from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.
The new NEES model will integrate all employment and benefit support services in a single delivery unit and will provide a coherent integrated and more personalised service to customers. It will also serve to eliminate the duplication of work that characterised services which were provided separately in the past.
369. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if job-seeker's allowance payment will be granted in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43347/12]
View answerThe jobseeker’s allowance application of the person concerned was closed as the deciding officer was not satisfied that she resided at the address provided on her application. If she wishes to re-open her application she should call to her local social welfare office with proof of residency.
370. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if and when an application for rent allowance will be determined in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43348/12]
View answerThe person concerned was sent a request for further information on the 4th May and the same document was sent again on 2 July 2012 in relation to his rent supplement claim. The Department has received none of this information to date. A decision will be made on his application when the information has been provided.
371. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if supplementary welfare allowance will be paid in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43349/12]
View answerAn application for supplementary welfare allowance from the person concerned has now been awarded.
372. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if and when illness benefit payment will be transferred to disability allowance/invalidity pension in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43350/12]
View answerIllness benefit claims are not transferred directly to another scheme. In order to be awarded invalidity pension or disability allowance a person must first make an application to these schemes. The person concerned has made an application for invalidity pension. This application for invalidity pension has been refused and the person concerned has been notified of this. The person concerned has the right to appeal this decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
373. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the basis on whcih it was decided to allow an appeal from 2 August, the date of oral hearing and not from the date of application in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43351/12]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the reasons for the partial allowance of the Carers Allowance for the person concerned were outlined in the letter issued on 25 September 2012. Based on the evidence, including that adduced at the oral hearing and subsequent submission, the Appeals Officer was of the view that the care recipient was not so invalided or disabled as to require full time care and attention when the application was made but considered it appropriate to decide that she does require full time care and attention from the date of the oral hearing on 2 August 2012 and, as such, the appeal is allowed from that date. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
374. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a domiciliary care allowance appeal in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43358/12]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 18 April 2012. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 14 May 2012 and the case has been referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
375. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if an application for domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43429/12]
View answerAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received on the 30th July 2012. This application was referred to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors who found that the child was not medically eligible for DCA. A letter issued on the 27th August 2012 refusing the allowance. The person concerned supplied further information and an appeal was registered against the decision. As part of the appeal process, the case has been forwarded to another of the Department’s Medical Assessors for further consideration, including a review of any new information supplied. Upon receipt of the Medical Assessor’s opinion, the case will be further examined and will be forwarded for consideration by the Appeals Office, if necessary. The application for carers allowance is currently awaiting a review. When this review is concluded the person concerned will be notified of the decision.
