Thursday, 18 Sep 2014

Written Answers Nos. 45 - 55

Social Welfare Benefits Data

Questions (45, 46)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

45. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide by local authority area, the numbers of citizens who are currently signing on for credits but who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35011/14]

Catherine Murphy

Question:

46. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide by local authority area, the numbers of citizens who are currently signing on for credits but who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment; the numbers in each area who have been signing for credits for under three months, for between three months and one year and for longer than one year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35012/14]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 46 together.

The information requested by the Deputy is not collated by my Department by local authority area. I am however informed that at the end of August there were 36,178 citizens signing for credits but who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment.

A breakdown of this number by Social Welfare Office is detailed in the attached tabular statement for the Deputy’s information.

Number of citizens signing for Credits August 2014:

Office	<3mths	3 - 12 Months	> 1 Year	Total
Achill	4	15	36	55
Apollo House	28	59	121	208
Ardee	9	18	122	149
Arklow	33	49	149	231
Athlone	37	78	257	372
Athy	17	30	109	156
Balbriggan	41	110	409	560
Ballina	15	36	134	185
Ballinasloe	18	46	123	187
Ballinrobe	10	9	79	98
Ballybofey	11	11	71	93
Ballyconnell	21	18	71	110
Ballyfermot	12	40	63	115
Ballymun	9	7	18	34
Ballyshannon	3	20	94	117
Baltinglass	12	27	127	166
Bandon	26	25	92	143
Bantry	21	32	126	179
Belmullet	17	16	56	89
Birr	28	31	144	203
Bishop Square	73	200	580	853
Blanchardstown	57	135	513	705
Boyle	7	20	80	107
Bray	74	183	457	714
Buncrana	24	31	204	259
Cahir	17	38	63	118
Cahirciveen	6	13	43	62
Carlow	25	54	132	211
Carrickmacross	8	12	77	97
Carrick-On-Shannon	17	41	162	220
Carrick-On-Suir	22	52	180	254
Carrigaline	30	84	225	339
Cashel	8	15	72	95
Castlebar	19	39	178	236
Castleblayney	7	15	77	99
Castlepollard	7	27	124	158
Castlerea	13	19	116	148
Cavan	27	81	268	376
Claremorris	7	17	88	112
Clifden	9	7	69	85
Clonakilty	11	26	108	145
Clondalkin	44	74	316	434
Clones	4	10	27	41
Clonmel	27	60	153	240
Cobh	10	29	77	116
Coolock Lo	50	89	340	479
Cork	235	229	969	1433
Dingle	4	23	38	65
Donegal	7	17	62	86
Drogheda	58	133	357	548
Dundalk	31	104	322	457
Dunfanaghy	13	25	103	141
Dungarvan	16	50	146	212
Dungloe	26	38	184	248
Dún Laoghaire	131	435	780	1346
Edenderry	18	35	103	156
Ennis	39	76	389	504
Enniscorthy	19	32	207	258
Ennistymon	9	18	93	120
Fermoy	23	33	113	169
Finglas	56	137	296	489
Galway	70	175	599	844
Gorey	37	69	242	348
Gort	11	37	167	215
Kells	12	24	136	172
Kenmare	5	10	22	37
Kilbarrack	70	138	512	720
Kilkenny	20	100	388	508
Killarney	13	36	121	170
Killorglin	13	29	72	114
Killybegs	7	23	83	113
Kilmallock	24	56	147	227
Kilrush	7	21	88	116
Kings Inns Street	86	119	389	594
Kinsale	10	37	206	253
Letterkenny	26	43	249	318
Limerick	78	232	613	923
Listowel	21	45	167	233
Longford	21	56	230	307
Loughrea	26	46	129	201
Macroom	26	42	125	193
Mallow	21	50	147	218
Manorhamilton	8	16	60	84
Maynooth	86	189	567	842
Midleton	27	69	165	261
Monaghan	18	37	132	187
Muine Bheag	6	17	74	97
Mullingar	35	83	330	448
Navan	33	88	245	366
Navan Road	41	145	302	488
Nenagh	20	56	240	316
Newbridge	72	192	678	942
Newcastle West	11	28	136	175
Newmarket	19	18	111	148
New Ross	23	65	208	296
Nutgrove	99	391	485	975
Portarlington	25	43	188	256
Portlaoise	34	71	256	361
Rathdowney	4	3	56	63
Roscommon	15	38	100	153
Roscrea	19	19	82	120
Skibbereen	7	28	103	138
Sligo	37	62	294	393
Swinford	10	28	156	194
Swords	50	110	416	576
Tallaght	48	164	450	662
Thomas Street	12	48	66	126
Thomastown	15	11	54	80
Thurles	54	53	166	273
Tipperary	12	30	81	123
Tralee	31	85	267	383
Trim	46	92	286	424
Tuam	20	44	208	272
Tubbercurry	8	9	54	71
Tulla	12	32	152	196
Tullamore	33	52	203	288
Tullow	8	27	71	106
Waterford	90	177	774	1041
Westport	15	39	113	167
Wexford	22	111	346	479
Wicklow	34	44	140	218
Youghal	22	22	137	181
Sum	3,445	7,657	25,076	36,178

Rent Supplement Scheme Data

Questions (47, 48, 49, 59)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

47. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of rent supplement claimants that have had their rent supplement withdrawn due to their rent being over the limits in the past two years, per household size, quarter, per part-county nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35013/14]

Catherine Murphy

Question:

48. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of notifications containing quoted text (details supplied) that have been sent to families; the number of notices of withdrawal of rent supplement in the past two years, per household size, quarter, per part-county nationally; her view that this renders them effectively homeless at the instruction of her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35019/14]

Catherine Murphy

Question:

49. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the acute housing problem in north and south Kildare; if she will provide the figures detailing the lack of any accommodation below the maximum rent limits; the manifest lack of willingness of agents or landlords to accept rent supplement at all since the changes to the limits in 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35020/14]

Catherine Murphy

Question:

59. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the financial savings her Department is making overall on rent supplement spends, broken down by category; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35099/14]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 to 49, inclusive, and 59 together.

The 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. 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 73,800 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.

Rent supplement expenditure from 2008 to August 2014 is provided in the attached tabular statement. Statistics in relation to rent supplement expenditure by category or household type are not available. Overall expenditure on rent supplement has decreased from a maximum spend of over €516 million in respect of over 97,000 recipients in 2010 to some €373 million in respect of almost 80,000 recipients in 2013. Changes in expenditure are attributable to variations in recipient numbers experienced during the economic crisis, the transfer of recipients to social housing, changes in maximum rent limits and increases to the minimum contribution payable by rent supplement tenants.

The most recent review of maximum rent limits was completed in June 2013 with revised rent limits introduced on 17 June 2013. Despite pressures on the social protection budget, the last review saw rent limits increase in line with market rents in some areas, including Dublin and Galway, with Dublin limits increasing by a weighted average of 9%. Separate to the county limits, higher rent limits were provided for north Kildare which were increased by up to 25% for single persons and up to 10% for families.

A rent limit review has commenced within the Department and will feed into the budgetary process. This review involves a comprehensive analysis of information from a range of sources including rental tenancies registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), the Central Statistics Office rental indices, relevant Departments and Agencies, and non-Government organisations such as Threshold, Focus Ireland and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

The current difficulties in the rental market and the difficulties faced by prospective tenants, including those seeking access to rent supplement, is a shortage of supply of suitable properties in areas of high demand including the areas in Kildare referred to by the Deputy. I would be concerned that raising rent limits is not the solution to the problem as it is likely to add to further rental inflation and impact, not alone on rent supplement recipients, but also on many lower income workers and students. The Government has recently launched its Construction Strategy with the aim of increasing housing supply generally.

Statistics are not maintained on the numbers of recipients that have had their rent supplement withdrawn due to the rent being over the limits or the number of notifications issued as referred to by the Deputy. However, I can assure the Deputy that officers administering rent supplement throughout the country have considerable experience in dealing with customers and make every effort to ensure that their accommodation needs are met. Discretionary powers are available to the CWS staff to award a supplement for rental purposes in exceptional cases where it appears that the circumstances of the case so warrant. A notice reminding staff of their statutory discretionary power to award a supplement for rental purposes in exceptional cases, for example, when dealing with applicants who are at risk of losing their tenancy, has recently been circulated.

In view of the current supply difficulties, the Department has agreed a protocol with the Dublin local authorities and voluntary organisations so that families on rent supplement who are at risk of losing their accommodation can have more timely and appropriate interventions made on their behalf. Since the launch of this initiative in mid-June 2014, approximately 115 families have had their rent supplement claims revised by the Department.

The fact that almost 74,000 people are currently in receipt of rent supplement shows that a significant number of landlords are accommodating and negotiating with applicants of the scheme. The Department is aware that some leading property websites ask potential landlords to indicate whether they will accept rent supplement tenancies. It is the Department’s expressed position that this practice should cease and the matter has been raised with the leading websites.

Rent Supplement: End of Year Recipient Numbers & Expenditure: 2008 to Date

Year	Recipients	Cost €000
2008	74,038	440,548
2009	93,030	510,751
2010	97,260	516,538
2011	96,803	502,747
2012	87,684	422,536
2013	79,788	372,909
End August 2014	74,080	229,000

Social Welfare Schemes

Questions (50)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

50. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the numbers of people here who are not in education, training or employment and who do not qualify for a social welfare payment; if these figures are available broken down by local authority area; if so, if she will provide same in tabular form; if she will list the data sources her Department uses when determining an accurate figure for people who fall into this category, including information categories from the Central Statistics Office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35028/14]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

My Department does not collate information relating to the numbers of people who are not in education, training or employment and who do not qualify for a social welfare payment.

The Central Statistics Office, as part of their Quarterly National Household Survey, reports on people in Ireland by their Principal Economic Status. This status includes people at work and unemployed and those people not in the labour force, such as students, people at home and people not able to work. This information can be obtained at www.cso.ie.

Pension Provisions

Questions (51)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

51. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if long-term carers will be given future contributory pension entitlements in view of the huge savings to the State due to the work of these individuals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35034/14]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

Credited contributions (credits) are social insurance contributions designed to protect the social insurance entitlement record of insured workers who are not in a position to make PRSI contributions.

Credits are awarded in circumstances such as unemployment or illness, and their purpose is to help protect the social insurance entitlements of insured persons during periods when they may not be in a position to pay contributions.

In order to qualify for credits, a person must first have entered insurable employment - he or she must have paid at least one PRSI at Class A, B, C, D, E, H or P.

Credits may enable insured workers to qualify for various social insurance benefits. While the contribution conditions applying to the various insurance benefit schemes can vary, a claimant must, in general, have

a. Paid a minimum number of weekly contributions and

b. Have a certain number of contributions or credits over a specified period; in the case of short-term benefits this is the relevant tax year, while in the case of long-term benefits (e.g. pensions) this is on the basis of the yearly average number of contributions and/or credits over the person's working life.

Credits cannot be used to satisfy condition (a). Thus, credits are only of value to a person who satisfies this "paid contribution" test.

Credits are awarded to recipients of Carer's Allowance in the following circumstances:

- if the claimant was employed and paid PRSI contributions prior to receiving Carer's Allowance s/he may be entitled to credits. If, however, there is a gap of two years in the claimant's insurance record, credits are not valid until at least 26 PRSI contributions have been paid.

- if the claimant was in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance (provided s/he has at least one paid Class A PRSI contribution) Jobseeker's Benefit or Illness Benefit immediately prior to claiming Carer's Allowance.

In addition under the Homemakers Scheme, which was introduced in 1994, a person who gives up work to take care of a child under age 12 or an incapacitated person over age 12 can be classified as a homemaker. Complete years spent out of the workforce looking after a child or an incapacitated person, are disregarded when working out entitlement to a State Pension (Contributory).

This scheme was introduced to make qualification for State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties - up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age and/or an incapacitated person can be disregarded.

However, it is important to note that the scheme will not, of itself, qualify a person for a pension. The standard qualifying conditions, which require a person to enter insurance ten years before pension age, pay a minimum of 520 contributions at the correct rate and achieve a yearly average of at least 10 contributions on their record from the time they enter insurance until they reach pension age, must also be satisfied.

For those who do not satisfy these conditions, and have an income need, a means-tested State pension may be available.

It is planned that a total contributions approach to pension qualification will replace the current average contributions test for State pension (contributory). The proposed date for the introduction of this change is 2020, but this may be subject to change.

The total contributions approach (whereby the pension payment will be based on the number of contributions paid and credited) will remove the current anomaly whereby people can achieve a higher average contribution rate, and thus a higher level of pension, even where they have a lower total number of contributions paid. This move will bring transparency and fairness to the eligibility for pension.

Departmental Customer Charters

Questions (52)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

52. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a list of the incidences in the past two calendar years and to date in 2014 where a complaint was registered against an employee of her Department by a member of the public who was interacting with her Department over a social welfare payment; if she will categorise these incidences by type of complaint; by location; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35042/14]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

My Department’s Customer Charter and Action Plan 2013-2015 sets out the level of service customers can expect to receive. The Department monitors its performance through the use of its management information systems and through consultation with customers using a variety of methods including receiving feedback through the Comments and Complaints system.

If a customer is dissatisfied with the standard of service they receive, they can contact the staff member or section involved to have the matter dealt with. If this does not resolve the issue to their satisfaction, they can make a complaint to the Quality Customer Service Team by telephone, in writing or on line at www.welfare.ie. Their complaint will be dealt with promptly, fairly and impartially. Receipt of the complaint will be acknowledged, and it will be referred to a complaints officer for investigation. A response to the customer normally issues within 15 working days of the date of receipt of the complaint.

If the complaint remains unresolved, the customer has the right of further appeal to the Office of the Ombudsman.

There has been a yearly average of 1,200 complaints received over the past two years. While it is not possible to provide the Deputy with details of complaints received against front-line staff specifically, some 422 official complaints have been recorded against named officers of the Department as follows:

Year	2012	2013	2014 (to date)
Officer named complaints received	102	171	149

Complaints against named officers are continually monitored by the Department. Over 75% of all "Officer Named" complaints are made about officers in the context of carrying out investigations and decisions on social welfare entitlements in line with social welfare legislation.

I wish to assure the Deputy that the Department endeavours to deliver a quality service on a daily basis to all its customers.

Questions Nos. 53 and 54 withdrawn.

Disability Allowance Eligibility

Questions (55)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

55. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason disability allowance was refused in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who is clearly unfit for work and on constant medication for numerous illnesses; if they will qualify for invalidity pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35070/14]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused on medical grounds and the person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 23 October 2013.

In our letter mentioned above to the person concerned, he was given the option of seeking a review or appealing our decision directly to the Social Welfare Appeals Office, within 21 days. To date, neither option has been exercised.

Invalidity Pension is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the contribution conditions.

Claimants must have at least 260 (5 years) paid PRSI contributions since entering social insurance and 48 contributions paid or credited in the last complete contribution year before the date of their Invalidity Pension claim. According to the Departments records Mr. Sari has only 6 contributions credited in the contribution year 2013.

Therefore, he does not meet the contribution requirements for this pension.