Written Answers Nos. 214 - 231
215. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the way in which an overpayment has occurred in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; if any agreements have been reached to discharge liability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48193/13]
View answerAn overpayment occurred as the person concerned failed to notify the Department of her earnings during the period 02 January 2003 to 16 September 2004 while in receipt of a one parent family payment. The rate at which the overpayment is currently being recovered is being reviewed at present and as part of the review process the Department will be in contact with the person concerned.
216. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an invalidity pension appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48196/13]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 22nd October 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office 31October 2013 and the case will be 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
217. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department allows any consideration for elderly persons who have a permanent monthly prescription expense of €144 as opposed to those who have no medical expense when considering whether to award fuel allowance to the person; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48208/13]
View answerAll social welfare schemes, including the fuel allowance, are operated on the basis of publicly available guidelines, which ensure fairness and consistency in determining eligibility. The fuel allowance is paid to those in receipt of long-term jobseekers, one-parent family payment, disability allowance, invalidity pension and some people in receipt of the State pension. Some 410,000 customers will receive the fuel allowance of €20 per week for six months of the year (26 weeks) from October to April, at a cost of €223 million. The allowance is subject to a means test and is paid only to those who live alone or with certain exempted people. The means tests which are used for social welfare schemes, including the fuel allowance, are based on income; they do not take account of a person’s expenditure. Full details of the criteria for the scheme are available on the Department’s website www.welfare.ie.
218. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department allows for the deduction of the local property tax from gross income to establish a persons net income or if it is allowable as an expense under any other heading when calculating the means of persons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48209/13]
View answerMy Department operates a range of means tested social assistance payments. For means test purposes, account is taken of the income and assets of both the claimant and his or her spouse/partner.
Where a claimant or a spouse/partner has earnings from employment, these earnings less PRSI contributions, pension contributions and trade union subscriptions are assessed as means. Various disregards and tapering arrangements also apply. Payments of the local property tax by a claimant and/or a spouse/partner are not taken into account in order to determine a person’s net income for means test purposes.
219. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether the new Intreo system will help to target benefit fraud; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48244/13]
View answerThe Department is committed to providing comprehensive employment support and income support services to our clients, with a focus is rights and responsibilities.
The roll-out of the INTREO Service to jobseekers presents a clear opportunity to improve control performance in relation to jobseeker clients. The integrated decision-making and the case management approach will not only have benefits in terms of services to the client but will also improve control across schemes.
223. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in respect of an appeal in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Waterford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48278/13]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 19th August 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 21st October 2013 and the case will be 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
224. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding budget cuts; the actions planned to address the concerns raised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48282/13]
View answerThe overall concern of the Government in this and previous budgets has been to protect the primary weekly social welfare rates. Maintaining the rate of the State pension and other core payments is critical in relation to protecting people from poverty. To allow us to protect these core payments, we have had to look very carefully at other additional payments. The cost of the telephone allowance scheme had risen each year with the number of eligible customers also increasing significantly. In 2007 there were some 316,000 people receiving the telephone allowance compared to almost 396,000 at the end of September this year, an increase of 25%. Each year almost 10,000 extra customers become eligible for the allowance because of the increased number of pension recipients.
I am keenly aware of the impact on the Department’s customers and particularly those who are living alone. While we are ending the telephone allowance we have been able to keep at the same rates the other elements of the household benefits package, including the free electricity/gas allowance and the free television licence. We have also retained the fuel allowance, free travel and the living alone increase.
Of course it is important to be aware that Ireland’s pensioners as a group have the lowest consistent poverty rate and, as a group compared to the rest of the population, are least likely to be at risk of poverty - pointing to the adequacy and importance of the State pension. Between 2004 and 2011, consistent poverty for older people (those over 65) fell from 3.3% to 1.9%. The ‘at risk of poverty’ rate for people in that age group also reduced from 27.1% to 9.7% over the same period.
The monthly allowances under the household benefits package are a contribution towards the cost of services; they are not intended to meet those costs in full. The ending of the telephone allowance of €9.50 per month (or about €2.20 per week) will not result in the automatic removal of any landline service linked to a personal alarm. Indeed, since the Budget announcement, I am aware that one telephone company has advertised that they will cover the value of the allowance. I would hope that other telephone companies will consider this.
The telephone allowance was introduced at a time when telephones were expensive and uncommon and a landline service was the only option available to the customer. The market has changed enormously since the introduction of the allowance, with several companies providing a range of services and rates with bundled services including television, telephone and broadband and pay-as-you-go mobiles. There are also personal security services that use mobile technology rather than land lines.
The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government operates the seniors alert scheme which provides grant support for the supply of equipment such as personal alarms, smoke detectors and security lighting to enable older people without sufficient means to continue to live securely in their homes. The budget allocation for 2013 was €2.35 million. There has been no reduction in this funding in Budget 2014.
226. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Social Protection if a cost-benefit analysis has been undertaken by her Department on the impact of Ireland signing the Antarctic treaty; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48326/13]
View answerThis is not a matter for my Department.
228. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in County Westmeath in receipt of rent supplement; the number in each rate category; and their place of residence. [48355/13]
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 approximately 81,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for 2013. There are currently 1,586 recipients of rent supplement in County Westmeath.
Information on rate categories is not available. A breakdown of the location of rent supplement recipients in County Westmeath is provided in the following tabular statement.
Rent Supplement recipients in County Westmeath by location (October 2013):
|
Location |
Recipients |
|
Mullingar |
659 |
|
Athlone |
551 |
|
Moate |
106 |
|
Kinnegad |
73 |
|
Castlepollard |
32 |
|
Killucan |
30 |
|
Tyrrellspass |
12 |
|
Other |
123 |
|
Total |
1,586 |
229. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection the average amount allocated per child and per school through funding for breakfast or lunch clubs in schools around the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48366/13]
View answer230. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of DEIS band 1 and DEIS band 2 schools in Galway West that receive breakfast or lunch club funding; if any school has increased its funding allocation by changing from a breakfast club to a lunch club; the amount by which said schools have increased their allocation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48367/13]
View answer231. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection if any school has increased its breakfast or lunch club funding allocation in the past year; if any school has increased its funding allocation by changing from a breakfast club to a lunch club; the amount by which said schools have increased their allocation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48368/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 229 to 231, inclusive, together.
The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services for disadvantaged children through two schemes. The first is the statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department. The second is the school meals local projects scheme (SMLPS) through which funding is provided directly to participating schools and local and voluntary community groups who run their own school meals projects. The Government has allocated an additional €2 million for the school meals programme in 2013, providing a total allocation of €37 million.
Funding under the school meals scheme can be provided for breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner and afterschool clubs. Responsibility for the type of food club and its operation lies with the school/organisation concerned. Priority for funding under the scheme is given to schools which are part of the Department of Education and Skills’ initiative for disadvantaged schools, ‘Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools’ (DEIS). The school meals scheme does not differentiate between DEIS bands.
A total of some 1,000 organisations, with 1,240 associated schools/preschools received funding under the SMLPS for the school year 2012/13, benefitting almost 147,000 pupils. Total expenditure on this scheme in 2012 was some €34 million, providing an average rate of approximately €1.30 per child per day and €156 per school/organisation. Schools/organisations benefiting under the scheme operate a wide range of food club modalities and may have other sources of funding for their projects. The application process for the school year 2013/14 is underway and will be finalised shortly as schools establish their clubs.
During the previous school year, some 22 DEIS schools or associated organisations in County Galway received funding under the SMLPS. There were no increased allocations provided to any school over that in the previous year as a result from changing from a breakfast club to a lunch club.
The additional €2m allocated to the school meals scheme for 2013 is being used to extend the scheme to additional DEIS schools. Bringing new schools into the scheme is considered to be the fairest way of ensuring that as many DEIS schools and disadvantaged pupils as possible have access to some level of funding under the programme.
