Written Answers Nos. 41-44
41. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a review of the decision to refuse an application for domiciliary care allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43345/14]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 6 November 2014, 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.
42. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a distributional analysis for the measures contained in budget 2015; if she is unable or unwilling to provide same and if she will provide her reasoning on this; her views that all budgetary measures should be equality proofed; and when will this be implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43355/14]
View answerSocial impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology which uses a tax/welfare simulation model developed by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to estimate the likely distributive effects of budgetary measures on income and social inequalities. The Department has previously published social impact assessments (using the ESRI Switch model) of the main welfare and tax measures in Budgets 2013 and 2014 and these are available on the departmental website.
The Department has examined the impact of the main welfare Budget measures announced on Budget Day and is currently preparing a social impact assessment of the main welfare, tax and other measures for 2015. This will include an analysis of the distributive and poverty impacts of these changes on different family types as well as the impact on at risk of poverty levels.
This will be published in due course and will be informed by the current consideration by the Government of additional measures in relation to the introduction of charging for water services and the proposed amendment in the current Social Welfare Bill in relation to maintaining the income disregard for One-Parent Family Payment recipients at €90 per week.
A recent ESRI and Equality Authority report examined in detail the gender impact of tax and welfare policy changes between 2009 and 2013. This report shows the potential for the use of a microsimulation model in assessing the gender impact of policy changes.
43. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views that Article 17 of the IORP, institutions for occupational retirement provision, directive, 2003/41/EC, does not impose a duty on the State where there are insufficient funds in schemes such as IASS, Irish aviation superannuation scheme, similar to the duty found by the ECJ, European Court of Justice, to exist in the case of double insolvency based on the insolvency directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43358/14]
View answerArticle 17 of the IORPS Directive places an obligation on certain occupational pension schemes to hold additional reserves where they underwrite death or disability benefits, guarantee a given investment performance or a given level of benefits. Such schemes are commonly known as ‘regulatory own funds’ (ROF).
Part 4 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2011 provided for amendments to the 1990 Pensions Act necessary to implement Article 17 of the IORPS Directive. Part IVB imposes a disclosure requirement on regulatory own schemes (if they exist) to notify the Authority. No such notifications have been received by the Pensions Authority to date and indications are there are currently no such schemes operating in Ireland and under the remit of the Pensions Authority.
At the time of implementation, it was highlighted that it was anticipated that Part IVB would apply to few, if any, Irish occupational pension schemes because they are not established on the same basis as schemes of the sort contemplated by Article 17 of the IORPS Directive. In general terms, Article 17 or regulatory own funds schemes are akin to insurance arrangements. Broadly speaking, Irish Defined Benefit occupational schemes are not ‘regulatory own fund’ schemes. The governing provisions of defined benefit schemes provide that retirement benefits are not guaranteed. On a winding up, benefits will be secured but only to the extent that there are funds available.
In Ireland, the Funding Standard as set out in Part IV of the Pensions Act requires the trustees of defined benefit pension schemes to maintain sufficient assets to meet the scheme liabilities in the event of the wind up of a pension scheme. Where a scheme fails to meet the Funding Standard, the trustees of the scheme are required to submit a funding proposal to the Pensions Board setting out it plan to restore scheme funding levels.
44. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Galway participating on the job initiative scheme is entitled to the Christmas bonus as announced in the recent budget; the reason for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43367/14]
View answerAs part of the Budget 2015 measures, a 25% Christmas Bonus will be paid this December to recipients of a long-term social welfare payment and also to participants on the Community Employment, Job Initiative, Rural Social Scheme, Tús and Gateway programmes. Over 1.16 million people will benefit from this measure.
