Written Answers Nos. 28-36
30. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons currently receiving rent supplement; the length of time for which the rent supplement is intended to be supplied; the number of persons who have been in receipt of rent supplement for one year, two years, three years, four years and five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25710/13]
View answer35. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update in relation to the proposal to transfer from rent supplement to housing assistance payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25711/13]
View answer54. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason that rent supplement is not payable directly to the landlord; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25712/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 35 and 54 together.
There are currently approximately 86,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for 2013. The purpose of rent supplement 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. Details of cases in payment over 18 months are notified on a quarterly basis to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG). I attach a tabular statement outlining details of the numbers of customers in receipt of the supplement for one to five years.
The Government has approved, in principle, the transfer of responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to persons with a long term housing need from this Department to housing authorities using a new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). Officials in the Department are working closely with those in DECLG to develop proposals to give effect to this transfer. DECLG has advised that piloting of HAP is subject to the necessary legislative requirements being in place.
Under the proposed arrangements for HAP, landlords will receive the rent for the property directly from the housing authority. Unlike the rent supplement scheme, where the Department’s relationship is with the tenant; the tenant makes the application for rent supplement and payment is made to the tenant to assist them with their accommodation needs. There is no direct relationship between the landlord and the Department in the administration of the scheme. However, social welfare legislation provides for the payment of a rent supplement payment to a nominated payee such as a landlord on behalf of the tenant. This arrangement is entered at the tenant’s request and subject to the consent of the Department. The official dealing with the request will take into account all the relevant circumstances of the particular case and the tenant’s preference will be accommodated where possible.
Tabular Statement
Rent Supplement by Claim Duration, End March 2013
|
Claim Duration (Years) |
Recipients |
|
Up to 1 |
31,729 |
|
1 to 2 |
21,724 |
|
2 to 3 |
13,609 |
|
3 to 4 |
9,032 |
|
4 to 5 |
4,878 |
|
5+ |
5,403 |
|
Total |
86,375 |
Note:
(1) Claims with duration of precisely 1 year are recorded under the 1-2 years heading, claims with duration of precisely 2 years are recorded under the 2-3 years heading and so on.
(2) This represents unbroken continuous claims only.
31. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to introduce gender recognition legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25720/13]
View answerAs I have indicated on a number of occasions I want the legislation to deal with the gender recognition advanced as quickly as possible. The issues involved are complex and have implications for other areas of Government. I realise also that this is a very sensitive area for those involved and people are naturally keen that the legislation be brought forward quickly. I understand that but I also have to have regard to the legal complexities involved in relation to some of the recommendations of the Gender Recognition Advisory Group (GRAG) relating to the marital and civil partnership status of individuals. The Department has been taking advice on this matter including talking to the various stakeholders involved. I feel that the Committee can make a very positive contribution to the preparation of the legislation and I believe that this approach should greatly assist the drafting of the legislation and its progress through the Oireachtas. When the Oireachtas Committee has discussed the provisional draft Heads of Bill, I will be in a better position to give a timeframe for the introduction of the legislation.
32. Deputy Áine Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on the urgent need to review changes made in the budget to the farm assist payment due to the difficult weather conditions and fodder shortages experienced by farmers at present. [25635/13]
View answer58. Deputy Áine Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider holding off changes in the assessment of farm assistance until at least July 2013; and if she will consider basing the assessment on the tax year 2012 instead of 2011 in view of the farming crisis. [25634/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 58 together.
The farm assist scheme is based on jobseeker’s allowance. It was introduced in 1999 to replace ‘Smallholders Unemployment Assistance’ for low income farmers, without the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking work. Farm assist recipients retain all the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes.
In Budget 2013 two measures were announced, which were implemented in April 2013, which bring the farm assist scheme into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s treatment of self-employed persons by:
a. Increasing the amount of means from self-employment, which is assessed against the claimant from 85% to 100%; and
b. Discontinuing the means testing disregards for child dependents of claimants.
Farm assist is a flexible payment and any farmer experiencing lower levels of income or cash-flow issues, due for example to bad weather, can ask his/her local social welfare/Intreo office to review the level of means applying to his/her claim.
The assessment of means for the purpose of qualifying for farm assist is not based on accounts from a particular year but is designed to reflect the actual net income and looks at gross income, less any expenses necessarily incurred, from farming. Income and expenditure figures for the preceding year are generally used as an indicator of the expected position in the following year. However, account is taken of any exceptional circumstances so as to ensure that the assessment accurately reflects the current situation. I recently met with a delegation from the Irish Farmers Association on 15th May 2013 to discuss a range of issues, including difficulties arising as a result of fodder shortages and the operation of the farm assist scheme generally.
33. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will ensure that funding is continued for the ready for work programme supported by business in the community to enable them to continue their work in helping homeless persons into work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25863/13]
View answerI am pleased to advise the Deputy that funding for the Ready for Work Programme operated by Business in the Community has been approved for the current year.
36. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the actions she has taken to reduce waiting times for social welfare payments. [25721/13]
View answerI wish to assure the Deputy that prompt processing of claims remains a priority for me. Each scheme area is continuously monitored and reviewed to ensure customers are responded to as quickly as possible. I am proud to inform the Deputy that the Department has had major success in clearing backlogs especially over the last year in the disability related schemes. The Table below provides details of processing times for each of the Department’s schemes in March 2013. All claims are registered promptly, in some schemes this is done through the scanning of claim documents onto the system while in other schemes this involves an officer inputting data. The time taken to perform means tests and/or medical examinations where these are required is not measured separately, while a determination on habitual residence where required is an integral part of the decision making process.
Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. As can be seen from the data in the table below, schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of illness-related schemes, can take longer to process. Similarly, means-tested payments can also require more detailed investigation and interaction with the applicant, thereby lengthening the decision making process. Delays can also arise if information is required from social security organisations in other jurisdictions and where additional information has been requested from the applicant but remains outstanding. Work on clearing backlogs in some scheme areas, such as carers allowance and invalidity pension has temporarily distorted the time taken to clear claims due to the high level of reviews and appeals following backlog clearances, but the progress made will be reflected in processing times in the coming months. Both schemes are up to date with the processing of new applications, as is family income supplement for both new and renewal applications.
As part of the Department’s programme of service delivery modernisation, a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the processing of claims, supported by modern technology, have been implemented in recent years. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised. In addition, the staffing needs of the Department are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources.
The new Intreo service is currently being rolled-out and implemented on a phased basis. This new service integrates employment and income supports and provides for a streamlined and personalized service to clients in accessing job opportunities and availing of supports to enable them to get back to work at the earliest possible opportunity. The Intreo Centres also include a single integrated decision-making team that integrate and streamline the processes formerly undertaken by the different agencies now amalgamated into the Department. The benefits of the integrated decisions process are already visible in terms of shorter decision times and in the reduced recourse to supplementary payments in offices where integrated decisions are in operation.
Table: Claim processing times - March 2013
|
Scheme |
Average weeks to award |
|
State Pension (contributory) |
4 |
|
State Pension (transition) |
6 |
|
State pension (non-contributory) |
14 |
|
Widow(er)’s Pension (contributory) |
2 |
|
Widow(er)’s Pension (non-con) pension & one parent family payment (widow) |
6 |
|
One Parent Family |
13 |
|
Household Benefits |
2 |
|
Bereavement Grant |
1 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
60 (claims received in the last 6 months are decided within 8 weeks. Appeals and reviews from backlog clearance are pushing out the average) |
|
Family Income Supplement - New Claims |
14 (new and renewal claims are now processed within 2 weeks of receipt) |
|
Disability Allowance |
23 |
|
Carer’s Benefit |
9 |
|
Carer’s Allowance |
34 (claims received in the last 6 months are decided within 13 weeks. Appeals and reviews from backlog clearance are pushing out the average) |
|
Jobseeker’s Benefit |
2 |
|
Jobseeker’s Allowance |
4 |
|
Illness Benefit |
1 |
|
Maternity Benefit |
2 |
|
Child Benefit - Domestic |
3 |
|
Domiciliary Care Allowance |
7 |
|
Back to Education Allowance |
Applicants for BTEA are already in receipt of another social welfare payment before a decision is made on their entitlement to the Allowance. |
