Written Answers Nos. 191-208
191. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to reinstate the telephone allowance; the cost of restoring it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41415/14]
View answerThe Department will spend €230 million this year on the household benefits package for almost 415,000 customers.
The Government has already announced that from 2015 the household benefits package and the fuel allowance will also include a quarterly water support payment of €25. The estimated cost of this new water support payment of €100 per annum will be in the region of €66 million in 2015. The living alone allowance has been increased to €9 benefitting 177,500 people at a cost of €12 million. A 25% Christmas bonus will benefit over 1.16 million people at a cost of €63.5 million.
I am confident that these measures will continue to meet the needs of those most in need.
The Department published a social impact assessment of the main welfare and tax measures in Budget 2014, including the discontinuing of the telephone allowance. The analysis showed that the family type most affected was unemployed single people, not the elderly. There was no significant change in the at-risk-of-poverty rate, as social transfers continue to perform strongly, substantially reducing the at-risk-of-poverty rate during the economic recession.
The decision to discontinue the telephone allowance provided annual savings of €48 million and meant that the Department was able to retain the other elements of the household benefits package such as the electricity and gas allowance and the television licence. These are valuable supports for recipients. The fuel allowance scheme and the free travel pass were also protected for older people and people with disabilities. I have no plans to restore the telephone allowance, which would cost in the region of €48 million per year.
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. Funding for this scheme will continue in 2015.
192. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare has been awarded a domiciliary care allowance in respect of their child; if the child concerned qualifies for a travel pass; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41418/14]
View answerAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 10th August 2010 and awarded in October 2010. The person concerned also made an application for DCA in respect of another child on the 13th September 2010. This application was refused as it was considered that the child did not meet the criteria for the allowance. A letter issued on 8 November 2010 outlining the decision of the deciding officer to refuse the application.
There is no automatic entitlement to free travel for children in receipt of DCA. Based on the medical evidence available to the Department the children involved in this case do not qualify for free travel.
193. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who have applied for participation in the JobsPlus programme in each year since its inception; the number of persons approved for participation; the number of persons who completed their course; the annual cost of the scheme; her plans to review its operation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41446/14]
View answerJobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees who were previously in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment for over 12 months. It is biased in favour of those who are longer-term unemployed and provides employers with two levels of payment: €7,500 over two years where a jobseeker who is 12-24 months on the live register is recruited and €10,000 for each person recruited who has been unemployed for more than 24 months. The subsidy is paid in monthly instalments over a two year period provided the employment is maintained. JobsPlus has been operational since July 2013.
In 2013, a total of 4,586 jobseekers applied for eligibility under the scheme and of those, 3,601 were adjudged to be eligible. From January to end September 2014, 6,685 jobseekers applied to have their eligibility confirmed with 5,156 of these deemed eligible.
At the end of September 2014, 2,273 employers received payments in respect of 3,000 employees who were previously long-term jobseekers. Since the incentive has not yet been in operation for 2 years, the number of persons who have completed the JobsPlus incentive cannot yet be determined.
A provision of €13.5m has been included in the Vote for the Department for the scheme in 2014. An expansion of JobsPlus was announced in Budget 2015 which will allow for double the number of jobseekers to be supported.
194. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if repayments of €5 per week will be accepted in respect of overpayment in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41454/14]
View answerThe current legislation allows this Department to recoup overpayments at 15% of a person’s personal rate of payment per week. In the case of the person concerned consideration was given at the time to the overpayment amount and to the amount of income received. As the person concerned is receiving a salary in addition to her one parent family payment an overpayment deduction amount of €28.20 per week was applied in this case. It is open to the person concerned to request a review of her overpayment deduction at her local office.
196. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the concerns raised in correspondence (details supplied) regarding full-time education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41458/14]
View answerChild benefit is a monthly payment to assist with the costs associated with raising children. It is paid to more than 600,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of around €1.9 billion in 2014. It is paid in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years in line with the statutory school attendance age. The payment continues to be paid for children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, subject to certification from school or college of educational attendance for each of these years.
A Value for Money Review of Child Income Support Programmes found that the participation pattern in second-level education supports the 18-year age limit for child benefit. For families on low incomes there are a number of provisions to social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:
- qualified child increases (QCIs) with primary social welfare payments
- family income supplement (FIS) for low-paid employees with children
- The back to school clothing and footwear allowance for low-income families.
Therefore, I have no plans to make any changes to the age threshold for child benefit.
Budget 2015 increased child benefit by €5, from €130 to €135 per month or €60 per annum. In addition, the new Back to Work Family Dividend for long-term unemployed jobseekers with children and One Parent Family Payment recipients will enable these families to retain the child-related portion of their social welfare payment on a tapered basis over two years.
These measures recognise the sacrifices that families made during the economic crisis and their continuing difficulties. They are in line with the commitment in the Statement of Government Priorities for a new deal on living standards for hard-pressed families. Strategically, the measures will increase the pace of the progress in helping people back to work, boost the recovery, reduce welfare expenditure in the long-run, and, most importantly, help the families in question to build a better financial future for themselves.
197. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Roscommon is entitled to backpay from 5 March 2014 to 14 October 2014 on their jobseeker's benefit in view of the fact that they were unaware following voluntary redundancy that they would have an entitlement to jobseeker's benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41476/14]
View answerUnder the Social Welfare Consolidation Act an applicant shall be disqualified for payment in respect of any period before the date on which a claim for Jobseeker's Benefit (JB) is made.
Notwithstanding this, a person may be entitled to a payment where the claimant shows "good cause" for not making the claim within the prescribed time, subject to all of the other criteria of the scheme being satisfied. In this case the person in question has not demonstrated good cause and as such there are no grounds for a retrospective payment.
199. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 147 of 21 October 2014, the number of persons who retired on ill health grounds from 2010 to date in 2014 who received enhanced retirement packages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41535/14]
View answerDetails of the number of persons who retired from my Department on ill health grounds between 2010 and to date in 2014, and who received added years to their service are set out below:
|
Year |
Number of ill-health retirements |
|
2010 |
16 |
|
2011 |
18 |
|
2012 |
28 |
|
2013 |
20 |
|
2014 to date |
20 |
In the case of ill health retirement, added years may be awarded on receipt of a recommendation from the Chief Medical Officer that the person concerned is incapable on medical grounds of regular and effective service and that this medical incapacity is likely to be permanent.
200. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the documentation that remains outstanding in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare in respect of the application for mortgage interest supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41542/14]
View answer209. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the difficulty caused to a family following the cessation of mortgage interest relief in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41734/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 209 together.
As outlined in previous replies to the Deputy the documents outstanding were set out to the client in letters from the Department on 16th May 2014 and 6th August 2014. The most recent letter of 4th September 2014 also outlined the items that remain outstanding are as follows:
- Full copy of original loan application in question
- Full copy of loan offer
- Copies of mortgage payment protection plan or plans and details of any payments received under these plans
- Current professional valuation of farm or lands.
203. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to deal with social welfare reform; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41595/14]
View answer234. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the social welfare reforms she has introduced since becoming Minister; if she will indicate her plans for the remainder of the Dáil Éireann term; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42117/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 203 and 234 together.
Since the Government took office in March 2011, I have implemented an unprecedented programme both of policy reform in the social welfare system and organisational change in the Department of Social Protection.
The Department successfully completed the most significant merger in the history of the Irish public service, while at the same time reducing expenditure and meeting increased demand for services. More than 1,700 posts from the Community Welfare Services of HSE and FAS were transferred to the Department. In parallel, I have radically overhauled labour-market activation policies and overseen the transformation of the Department from the passive benefits provider of old to a public employment service that is actively assisting people back to work, training or education.
Some of the significant reforms to the social welfare and labour market activation systems since I took up office in March 2011 are set out below.
From welfare to work:
- Major “activation” reforms have been introduced to help people back to work. Pathways to Work is the strategy driving these reforms.
- The centrepiece of Pathways to Work is Intreo (launched October 2012), the Department’s employment service which is replacing old-style social welfare offices with Intreo offices. These provide jobseekers with both income supports and employment services - like individually tailored personal progression plans and job-search assistance - in the one place.
- The number of DSP caseworkers on activation duties doubled due to internal deployment within the Department by the end of 2013. In addition, JobPath, which is expected to commence in mid-2015, is a new programme of employment activation aimed specifically at the long-term unemployed (over 12 months) and those most distant from the labour market.
- A Record of Mutual Commitments is now signed by jobseekers, which outlines joint commitments - on the Department’s behalf, to providing income support to jobseekers and in helping a jobseeker find work or progress back into the labour force; and on the client’s behalf, to engaging and working with officials from the Department along an agreed progression path. Where a jobseeker refuses an appropriate offer of training, or other such intervention, legislation now provides for a reduction in payment levels.
Ensuring access to work and that work pays:
- Activation is just one element of the radically new approach to social welfare in Ireland, the purpose of which is to ensure that people are better off in work than on welfare.
- A new scheme called Jobseeker’s Transition was introduced in July 2013 to assist Lone Parents back to work and towards financial independence.
- The Partial Capacity Benefit scheme was launched in February 2012 to allow people with disabilities avail of employment opportunities while still receiving income support from the Department.
- The Department is working with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government on the roll-out of a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), to replace Rent Supplement. HAP will subsidise rent for people on welfare and in low-income employment so that they will not lose housing assistance when they move from welfare to work. The Department’s strategic policy direction is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of a short-term income support scheme. HAP was introduced on a pilot basis in Limerick City and County Council in April 2014 and has since been recently extended to Waterford City and County Council, Cork County Council (15th Sept), and South Dublin County Council, Kilkenny County Council, Monaghan County Council and Louth County Council (1st Oct).
- Through the new Back to Work Family Dividend scheme announced in Budget 2015, long-term unemployed jobseekers with children who leave welfare to return to work can retain the child-related portion of their social welfare payment on a tapered basis over two years. This includes those who move to self-employment, such as the construction sector. It will also apply to One Parent Family Payment recipients who similarly go back into the workforce. The scheme will be worth €1,550 per child in the first year of employment or self-employment and half that amount again in the second year.
New schemes, more places:
- This year, the Department will spend more than €1 billion on work, training and education places to benefit 85,000 people – and the number of such places has steadily increased.
- JobBridge, the national internship scheme, launched June 2011, has proved a major success. An independent evaluation of the scheme by Indecon Economic Consultants found JobBridge had a progression rate of 61% - meaning three in five participants secure employment after completing their internship. This is one of the best outcomes for such a scheme anywhere in Europe. Over 32,000 people have participated on JobBridge so far.
- The introduction of Tús, the community workplace initiative (2011) and Gateway, the local authority workplace initiative (2013), has provided opportunities for jobseekers to maintain their work readiness and harness new skills.
- Following a review of community employment and other employment support measures funded by the Department, revisions were made to community employment, the Back to Education programme and a number of other training support measures to offer greater access and flexibility to ensure more focused use of resources on the needs of jobseekers.
- In addition to the overall Pathways to Work reforms, further changes are being made to how the Departments engages specifically with the young unemployed under the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan published earlier this year. In particular, all of the young unemployed will be engaged with immediately on becoming unemployed, regardless of their profiled probability of re-employment. Re-employment subsidies will also be available for young people at an earlier stage in terms of duration of unemployment, and a specific variant of JobBridge is being launched for particularly disadvantaged young people.
Working with employers:
- The Department now has a dedicated Employer Relations Division, which works with employers to assist them with their recruitment needs and find employees from the Live Register.
- The Department works hand-in-hand with State agencies such as the IDA to attract overseas investment to Ireland by demonstrating to international companies that their recruitment needs can be met in Ireland. This is done through “job-matching” profiles – matching potential positions with appropriate candidates.
- JobsPlus is the new employer incentive scheme, launched July 2013, which provides cash grants to businesses which hire persons who have been long-term unemployed. Under the scheme, the State covers approximately €1 in €4 of the typical cost of hiring someone who has been on the Live Register for 12 months or more. Budget 2015 provided for an additional 3,000 employees to be supported by this scheme.
Combatting welfare fraud :
- The Programme for Government commits to maintaining core welfare rates while taking a zero-tolerance approach towards welfare fraud.
-The Department’s Fraud Initiative 2011-2013 significantly strengthened what is known as “control activity” – i.e. rooting out fraud and eliminating overpayments. In 2013, more than 1 million reviews of individual social welfare claims were carried out, and savings of €632 million were achieved through control activity.
- Departmental officials have been given a range of additional powers to combat fraud. Social welfare inspectors now have the powers (introduced in June 2012) to question people at ports and airports whom they believe may be entering the country to claim social welfare payments fraudulently.
- Legislation was introduced in December 2012 to increase the amount that the Department can recover from an individual’s personal weekly payment in cases of overpayment. The Department can now recover up to 15% of a person’s payment whereas previously it had been as little as €2 a week.
- To further enhance the powers to recover overpayments, the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 introduced additional powers for the recovery of social welfare overpayments by way of notice of attachment to earnings and/or money held by an overpaid person in a financial institution. The 2014 Act now includes a provision to extend Notice of Attachment to other state payments.
- Data exchange with Revenue has been considerably enhanced allowing for focused control activity – particularly in relation to customers who receive means-tested welfare payments but may not have declared all their means to the Department.
- The Public Service Card, which involves face-to-face registration and the capture of biometric data to prevent identity abuse, has moved into full production, with well over a million cards issued to date. It is now an integral part of claim processing and control activity. To further strengthen the Public Services Card registration process, the Department acquired facial imaging matching software to help detect and deter duplicate registrations.
- In April of this year the Department published a new Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy 2014 – 2018. The new strategy builds on the approach and progress made under the previous Initiative. In terms of new measures being progressed under the Strategy 2014-2018 the Department will:
- Utilise predictive analytical techniques to enhance the methods currently in place to identify claims that are more likely to be fraudulent.
- Enhance debt recovery through a new debt management system which will ‘go live’ by the end of 2014.
- Have a greater presence on the ground through the secondment of 20 Gardaí to the Department’s Special Investigation Unit.
Sustainability of Pensions
- A broad range of legislative and regulatory reforms been made over a number of years to improve the sustainability of defined benefit pension schemes and protect members’ benefits into the future.
- In Quarter 1 2014, the governance of the Pensions Board (17 paid members) was restructured to consist of a three-person Pensions Authority to provide operational oversight of pensions regulation and a separate unpaid Pensions Council, with a majority of members which will represent consumer interests and advise the Minister on pensions policy.
- A Steering Group has been established with regards to merger of the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman with the Financial Services Ombudsman, as recommended in the Critical Review. The timeline for implementation has yet to be fully finalised but it is hoped to complete the merger by mid-2015.
- The decision to reform the State pension was taken in the context of changing demographics and the fact that people are living longer and healthier lives. There are currently 5.3 people of working age for every pensioner and this ratio is expected to decrease to approximately 2.1 to 1 by 2060. This has significant associated pension costs for the State.
- The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2011 provides that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the standardisation of pension age for all at 66 years. From April 2012, the number of paid contributions required to qualify for a State Pension increased from 260 paid contributions to 520 paid contributions. From September 2012, new rate bands for State Pension were introduced, which more accurately reflect the social insurance history of a person.
- In line with the Programme for Government, the recent 2014-2016 Statement of Priorities confirmed that during 2015 the Government will agree a roadmap and timeline for the introduction of a new, universal supplementary pension saving scheme.
Reforming Existing Schemes:
One-Parent Family Payment
- The Department is currently undertaking comprehensive reform of the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP). These reforms are designed to tackle long term welfare dependency and the high rates of lone parents who are at risk of consistent poverty. The reforms see a reduction in the age threshold of the youngest child at which a lone parent is still eligible for the OFP. The age is being reduced to seven years of age on a phased basis to 7 years by 2015
Free Travel variant of the Public Services Card (PSC)
- The introduction of the new free travel variant of the PSC in December 2013 will help eliminate the fraudulent use of the Free Travel Pass. The new card includes customer photo identification and a number of additional security features. Over 270,000 free travel variants have been issued to date.
Water Support
- The introduction from 2015 of “water support”, a new payment of €100 per annum, paid on a quarterly basis (€25) to all those in receipt of either the household benefits package or the fuel allowance, will help compensate for the costs of water services.
School Meals
- Budgets 2014 and 2015 provided for an additional €2 million in funding each year for the School Meals scheme (bringing total funding to €39 million for 2015). The extra funding in 2014 was made available for school meals for all DEIS schools who were not participating in the scheme. The 2015 additional funding is primarily for the provision of breakfast clubs to support school going children in disadvantaged areas, and where possible, to increase funding for existing DEIS school as a consequence of increased pupil numbers.
The Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare
- I established the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare in 2011. This group harnesses expert opinion and experience to address specific issues around the interaction of the tax and social protection systems, and make cost effective proposals for improving employment incentives and achieving better poverty outcomes. Three reports have been completed and published:
- Child and Family Income Supplement payments (February 2013)
- Disability Allowance budget changes (April 2013)
- PRSI for self-employed (September 2013)
- The Advisory Group submitted its final report, on working age payments, in August 2014. This will be published in due course.
204. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to the possibility of allowing travel expenses for members of a community employment scheme (details supplied) in Dublin 4; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41606/14]
View answerAs part of the operation of community employment (CE) the Department provides a materials grant to the Sandymount Community Employment scheme to defray the material costs of producing the Newsfour newsletter. However, the operational costs of producing and delivering the newsletter are not the responsibility of the Department or of Sandymount CE scheme.
It is not common practice for travel expenses to be paid for participants on CE. However, depending on the specific circumstances, some limited expenses necessarily incurred in relation to the employment may possibly be considered.
It will be arranged for the project Sponsors to meet with the DSP Community Development Officer with responsibility for the project to discuss this matter further.
205. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if assistance is available in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 3; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41643/14]
View answerThe person concerned was receiving illness benefit from 24th September 2013 until 4th September 2014 and is attending a course of study at Blanchardstown Institute of Technology. As she has now been medically assessed as being fit to take up employment she can no longer qualify for illness benefit. In order to qualify for a jobseeker’s payment a person must be available for and actively seeking employment under social welfare legislation; there is no entitlement to receive this payment while a person is attending a full-time course of study. Furthermore, supplementary welfare allowance also cannot be paid to persons attending a course of study under legislation, and consequently the person concerned does not qualify for a social welfare payment in her current circumstances.
206. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) had their payment cut; the criteria used; if all considerations, including PRSI deductions, were made in the means test; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41651/14]
View answerFollowing a review of the jobseeker’s allowance claim of the person concerned his weekly payment was reduced. The weekly means assessed were based on his spouse/partners income from employment and were calculated in accordance with statutory requirements.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned together with the relevant Departmental papers were received by that office on 17 October 2014 and that the case 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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
207. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No 148 of 21 October 2014, if she will respond to a further query in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41732/14]
View answerAt the in person medical assessment performed on the customer for illness benefit on 20 January, 2012, the Medical Assessor provided a medical opinion that the customer was not eligible for illness benefit and indicated in her medical report completed at the assessment that the customer would be capable of doing other categories of work i.e. such as light semi-skilled/lesser skilled work (e.g. office work, sales, taxi driver, courier, shop assistant, caretaker, security officer).
An appeal in person assessment was performed on the customer on 29 May, 2012 by a different Medical Assessor, it also provided a medical opinion that the customer was not eligible for illness benefit and indicated in his medical report completed at the assessment that the customer would be capable of doing the other categories of work mentioned above and also additional categories such as moderate skilled/semi-skilled work ( e.g. trades man, healthcare paraprofessional work, factory work, machine driver, cleaner, waiter, postal worker, child care).
The customer is entitled to request copies of his medical reports under the FOI Acts should he so wish.
208. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in determination of an appeal for carer's allowance in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41733/14]
View answerThe person in question is currently in receipt of carer’s allowance in respect of one care recipient. I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 6th March 2014 for a second care recipient. The person concerned was refused carer’s allowance on the ground that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. She was notified of this decision on the 2nd of July 2014, the reason for it and of her right of review or appeal.
The person in question requested a review of this decision and submitted additional medical evidence in support of the application. The application is currently with a deciding officer for a decision. Once processed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
